


Nowhere is Safe

by ownedbyacat



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: Alternate Universe, Army, Gen, JaeMin, M/M, MinJae, Soulfighters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-03-29 18:38:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 35,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3906592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ownedbyacat/pseuds/ownedbyacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Invisible up close, able to kill from a long way away… when an elite sniper operates in your neighbourhood nowhere is safe. To Major Kim Jaejoong, being a sniper is more than a job. It's a mindset he needs when the people around him fall prey to a shooter with a high-powered rifle and his new partner, Captain Shim Changmin from Army Intelligence, turns out to be as much a distraction as he is a help. Undeniably both smart and gorgeous, the man has issues. And an attitude. And he's about as subtle as mortar fire in showing his dislike of Jaejoong.<br/>Thrown together by the crisis, both Jaejoong and Changmin struggle to reconcile mutual dislike and mutual attraction. But when events escalate and the stakes get higher, they must put their attraction and differences aside and work together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Under Attack

### Under Attack

"Ssssss….thump!" 

The bullet's impact wasn't audible from his high position, but he had a good view of his target collapsing on the ground. And an even better one of the pandemonium that broke out in the wake of the shot. 

"Ssssss….thump!" 

Another uniform-clad form crumpled in a heap. No one of importance this time, unlike his first victim. He'd waited three hours to get Kim Jong Ki into his sights, waited three hours and a few heartbeats longer to pull the trigger. And he hadn't missed. The shot had been perfect, as perfect as the shot that followed. 

The parade ground cleared rapidly after that, soldiers, officers and support staff scattering in a classic star burst pattern, finding cover the first consideration. All that was left were two dark stains on the packed ground like memories that had yet to fade.

In his towering hideout well outside the sprawling army base, Ran Joon broke down his rifle and stowed the pieces. His movements were slow and careful, his breathing even. He'd just killed two men, but his heart beat no faster than it had while he'd lain in wait. For him, it had always been that way. He'd never succumbed to the thrill of the kill, and yet… shouldn't he feel at least a little gleeful? A little pleased at how easily he'd picked up long neglected skills, how easily he'd snuck up to the well-guarded base, how easily he'd taken out two targets inside the compound? 

By the time the panic had settled enough that anyone would consider looking for a sniper, he'd be long gone. And there'd be no trace left for them to find.  
Until he returned to spread panic once more.

It was that thought, the thought of leaving panic and dread in his wake, poisoning minds in anticipation of his return, that finally brought a tiny smile to his face. For a heartbeat or two his right palm curved over the tattoo on his left bicep, caressed the words inscribed there like the talisman they were.  
He'd show them what he could do. He would spread fear and dread and panic… and then, then he'd show… _him._

He'd make sure everyone knew whose fault it was that people were dying. He'd make sure that everyone knew whom to blame. He wouldn't stop until he'd taken everything that Kim Jaejoong held dear.

And then he'd walk away.

The way Jaejoong had walked away.


	2. Return to Base

### Return to Base

It was peaceful on the mountain. The late summer nights were warm enough not to require a fire, and the meadow where Major Kim Jaejoong had chosen to spend the hours of darkness was bathed in moonlight.

Not that the sniper was sitting out where he could be seen. Far from it. His small shelter was concealed in the undergrowth, carefully hidden to blend with the foliage. He kept his eyes on the distance where the border ran along the ridge of mountains. He'd patrolled the area for the last eighteen days and had made camp in this particular meadow once before. It was one of the more comfortable places to observe the small river that had cut its way through the rock, to keep an eye on the ravine that was used as a gateway by enemy patrols and infiltrators alike.

Comfort wasn't high on his list of priorities. He'd not had a bath in almost three weeks. He drank water from the streams he passed and lived on MREs and ration bars, only rarely taking the time to hunt for fresh meat. Hunting, and processing and cooking his kill, required him to take his attention from the border, and he couldn't afford that. Not when they had intelligence telling them to expect a break.

He'd not had a full night's sleep in eighteen days either, catching naps here and there, always on the move. Actually setting up a camp and stretching out on his sleeping bag, rather than just wrapping the fabric around himself to ward off rain and early morning chill as best he could, was a luxury.

Most of all, he'd not spoken to another human soul in eighteen days. He sent a brief check-in ping every morning at sunrise. He waited until his base replied with an equally short pulse before he went on his way once more. No words were exchanged and none were needed. He knew what he was doing, and his command knew that he did.

Nights in the mountains were peaceful, even if Jaejoong slept sitting upright, with one eye on his target. The sky was alight with stars and trees rustled in the light breeze like a never ending song. Without being blinded by neon lights, Jaejoong could see all the way across the small meadow and appreciate the silver sheen the moonlight lent to grasses and leaves alike.

It was morning almost before he knew it. Another night without a sign of the expected insurgents, but Jaejoong didn't mind. They would come when they came and he'd be there to stop them. He pulled the radio from his pack and sent his daily check-in. He chewed on a ration bar while he waited for the reply and—once it had come as expected—he broke up his little camp, making sure he left no trace of his passing.

***

The meat locker chill hit him first and he shivered. Then the silence closed in around him and weighed him down. Each step he took into the white-tiled blandness echoed as if he crossed a graveyard at midnight. If there was one place on the army base that Colonel Seong hated with a passion, it was this space. The base's morgue. He had visited frequently in his almost twenty years as a soldier, he had learned that casualties were often unavoidable and yet, each time he left the white-tiled horror it was with a deep sense of shame and with the taste of failure in his mouth.

Today… today would be worse. In all his years, he'd never lost a single soldier inside an army base. Today he'd lost two. To an enemy he hadn't seen. A foe he couldn't apprehend. Could barely guard against. If the attacker was an elite sniper, then nowhere was safe.

Looking down at the two still forms on their gurneys, he didn't appreciate the irony that he, who commanded a troop of Korea's best snipers, had allowed his men to fall prey to the skills of one.

"Definitely a military-grade sniper rifle, sir," the ME reported, when the colonel had paid his respects and stepped into his office for an update. "We're still working to establish which model he used, but judging by the wounds the shooter was almost a kilometre away. And high."

The man didn't add _'there was nothing you could have done'_ to the end of his update, but Seong heard it anyway. The murderous rage that shook his frame held off the shame for a few moments. Long enough for brisk steps to carry him from the morgue out into the blaze and brightness of a summer afternoon. The smell of carbolic and disinfectant stung his nostrils. It would cling to him for the rest of the day and most of the night, he knew that. And while he hated that his mind had the power to play him like this, he accepted it as the price he had to pay for his failure.

He crossed the parade ground with brisk steps, aware that he was contravening his own orders right then. Aware that anxious eyes watched his progress. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up, but his rage was stronger than his sense of self-preservation.

Once in his office, he picked up the phone and called his adjutant.

"Bring Jae home," he demanded briskly. "Now."

***

"Major Kim, reporting as ordered, sir," Jaejoong saluted, standing rigidly at attention.

His CO rarely insisted on the proper formalities, especially when Jaejoong had just returned from a tour. But there were other men in the room with Colonel Seong, men he didn't know from Adam. Men with worried frowns, tense shoulders and mouths in angry lines. And one man who was made from endless legs, even longer lashes, and cheekbones sharp as knife blades. One man who fairly took his breath away.

Trained to remain motionless when startled, Jaejoong neither moved nor spoke. He stood at attention and feasted his eyes, glad to have something so beautiful to distract him from his exhaustion and the noise in the room that battered his senses after three weeks of solitude.

"Come in, come in," the colonel waved him across the room, past the bevy of conferring men towards a quiet corner. "You made excellent time. I didn't expect you until tomorrow."

"Comms put up the bat signal, sir."

A tiny smile curved the older man's full lips. "I suppose I did say now. Have you heard the news yet?"

"No, sir. As you can see, I haven't even showered yet."

The smile grew broader. "You always were an overachiever. But I'm glad you're here. The base has been attacked by a sniper. All we know right now is that his nest was on high ground, about a kilometre away. And that he knows what he's doing. Long legs over there," he waved at the striking man Jaejoong had admired earlier, "is Captain Shim. He's going to be your intelligence. His CO tells me he's the very best they have."

Jaejoong frowned at that bit of news. He'd worked with the same intelligence officer for the last four years—ever since he'd been promoted to solo squad in fact—and their interaction was seamless.

"Why can't I work with Jong Ki as usual?"

The colonel's face clouded and all of a sudden he looked just like the other men in the room: tense, angry and…defeated. Dread crept up Jaejoong's spine and wrapped around his heart like a vice the longer his CO stayed silent.

"He was taken out?"

"Jong Ki was the shooter's first victim. I'm sorry."

Jaejoong closed his eyes. They'd talked about this often. Argued, even. Jong Ki had had a fatalistic streak that bugged the hell out of the more mercurial sniper. And now he was gone, well before his time. And Jaejoong's. If Jaejoong had wanted to believe in any higher powers, now might have been a good time to start.

"Was it clean?" he asked instead.

"Yes. Headshot. He wouldn't have known."

Jae bowed his head in thanks. He'd be asking the same question of the base's ME later, but for now he felt comforted.

"I want you to take the rest of the day to recover," the colonel said so quietly that someone standing three feet away wouldn't have heard him. "From tomorrow morning, your one and only job will be to find that sniper and take him out. Whatever you need."

Jaejoong had never been give carte blanche before, but he was too tired and heart-sore to care right then. He merely straightened his spine and saluted. "Yes, sir."

When he left the room, he had eyes for nobody. Not even the breathtaking Captain Shim.


	3. Pissed and Pissed Off

### Pissed and Pissed Off

As a child, Changmin had loved sneaking out of the house at night to sit by the pond in the garden. In daylight it was an ordinary pond, framed by tall grasses, edged with waterlilies and stocked with beautiful ghost koi. Night, and especially moonlight, transformed the everyday pond into a fathomless abyss of inky dark waters that held a myriad of secrets. Secrets that intrigued, enticed and let Changmin dream. Secrets that made him slip out of the house again and again to sit under the stars, even when he was punished for doing so. And even when the punishments grew painful, he thought they were worth the peace and inspiration he found when he sat beside the pond's quiet depths.

The moment he first caught sight of Major Kim Jaejoong, Changmin was reminded of his favourite childhood place. The man's eyes were just like Changmin's pond: ordinary one moment and then fathoms deep and filled with so many secrets that Changmin wanted to step closer and see what inspiration they held.

Then the man saluted and Changmin froze where he stood, embarrassed that he'd been caught admiring Kim Jaejoong, the very man Changmin blamed for ruining his life. The intriguing, expressive eyes were of no further interest after that. Instead, Changmin noted that the man was filthy. And short. And that he slumped noticeably when he didn't pay attention. He wasn't entirely steady on his feet, either, and Changmin wondered for a moment if the decorated Major Kim could possibly be drunk.

He dismissed the idea a second later. Colonel Seong had a reputation for being a proper stickler. He'd have ripped the major a new one if the man had shown up reeking of booze, there was no doubt about that. Instead, the colonel had wrapped an arm around the major's shoulder and had spoken to him in quiet tones. Halfway through the conversation, Major Kim's shoulders went rigid and his spine snapped straight, and Changmin didn't have to be a mind-reader to know that the major had just been told of Kim Jong Ki's death. The sorrow was all over his face.

And it pissed Changmin off no end.

Had the man looked like that when he'd ruined Ran Joon's career? Had he regretted the words he'd spoken? Had he stood and watched Ran Joon pack his things, had he watched the stripes being torn off his sleeves, had he followed his progress as he stepped through the gate of the base for the very last time, flanked by military police? Changmin seriously doubted it… What Jaejoong had done to Ran Joon had been so callous, so calculated, so…

Changmin ground his teeth and pushed the thoughts aside. None of that would help him with his assignment. An assignment he couldn't afford to fail. Not if he wanted to make a career in army intelligence. It was the luck of the draw that had thrown him into Kim Jaejoong's way. He'd work with the man to the best of his ability. He'd complete the task they were given and then he'd move on. It was as simple as that.

Kim Jaejoong's gorgeous eyes and the unexpected sorrow in his face were not going to distract him.

***

Jaejoong was drunk. Not drunk enough that he no longer cared, but drunk enough that he could bear the hurt. After he'd left Colonel Seong's presence, he'd stood for a long time in the chilly silence of the morgue, staring at Jong Ki's still face. The gruesome wound in his forehead was an eerily grotesque reminder of his best friend's predictions.

Jong Ki had always said he'd die first and in a safe place. He'd also told Jaejoong that he wouldn't know it when he died. Jae had taken that to mean that Jong Ki would die of a heart attack, and he had caned the other man mercilessly, aiming to improve his fitness. He'd forced him to run laps around the parade ground until he nearly passed out, raced him over the assault course and through speed marches, only to lose him to a sniper's bullet. For someone whose family had never quite understood his decision to stay in the military and had grown distant as a result, losing his only true friend hurt like hell.

Jae was content in his role, content to spend the majority of his days in solitude, patrolling the mountains, taking action when it was needed and tirelessly working on honing his skills. But losing the one person he had to come home to… in a way, it felt as if someone had cut off his legs. The ground had shifted under his feet and left him adrift.

It wasn't a comfortable feeling.

The knock on the door was a welcome distraction from his increasingly maudlin thoughts. He uncurled himself from the corner of the sofa where he'd huddled in a tight, tense ball. The room swayed only vaguely as he moved and while he was exhausted, Jae knew that his mind wouldn't let him sleep just yet. He reached for his fourth bottle of soju and called in the direction of the door.

"Come on in. It's open."

He couldn't have said whose face he had expected to see. He only knew that it wasn't that of Captain Shim Changmin.

***

Changmin hadn't changed his mind about disliking the major or his decision not to let emotion interfere in their work when he knocked on Jaejoong's door later that evening. He'd spent the afternoon going over all the information they had accumulated for the attack so far and he was ready to discuss every tiny detail. He wasn't prepared to be confronted with a visibly inebriated sniper who presided over a bevvy of half-empty takeout containers and a crate of soju wearing nothing but loose sweats and a very clinging, sleeveless t-shirt that decorated his muscled torso more than covered it.

"Captain," Jaejoong waved expansively. "Come sit and drink with me."

"No, thank you," Changmin said stiffly, struggling to keep his eyes in appropriate locations. The damned man even had tattoos. He could just see them through the threadbare t-shirt and fuck if it didn't turn him on. He'd never quite had the guts to get himself inked, but he loved the look. Especially on someone with skin as pale as the major's.

"It's good stuff, this."

Jaejoong's voice brought Changmin back to himself and he straightened to his full height and looked down his nose at the almost prone sniper. "I would have thought that in view of the current threat you'd have better things to do than pour soju down your throat."

"Yeah?" Jaejoong's voice grew silky, slithered over Changmin's senses like the softest caress. "I think my throat would disagree."

"What?"

"You don't listen to your throat? Strange. Very important part, your throat. Having it cut can kill you. But so can a bullet to the head. Did you know that? It's very quick… a bullet to the head. You don't even know you're gone. Your body just stands there, all confused, while you're already being handed a harp. Strange that, don't you think?" He drained the bottle and dropped it carelessly to the floor, before reaching for another one. "For fuck's sake sit down," he suddenly bellowed at the top of his lungs. "You're driving me friggin' nuts, standing around like a clueless debutante without an idea what that virgin ass of hers is for."

If the collection of empty bottles hadn't clued him in, the pointless meandering ramble showed clearly enough how much the major had imbibed. And Shim Changmin, who could honestly say that he'd never been drunk while on duty, was righteously disgusted. Two people were dead, the base was virtually on lock-down and Korea's most highly decorated sniper was lounging around his quarters pickling his liver!

But it figured, didn't it? It fit so very neatly with everything else he'd been told about fucking Major Kim. He really shouldn't be surprised.

Rage burned in his belly like a shot of that expensive soju the major was knocking back as if it were water. "I will not sit down. And I will certainly not drink with you," he grated through his teeth, his decision to make the best of this fucked up assignment totally forgotten. "If you can't be bothered to do your duty, that's your problem. I will not join you in that behaviour. But let me tell you that your conduct is totally unbecoming an elite soldier!"

At first, Changmin thought that his tirade had no effect on the major. That was before the man pinned him with a stare so malevolent, Changmin felt the hair on his neck stand on end.

"Well, you should know, shouldn't you?" Jaejoong drawled slowly. "What's becoming to an elite soldier and what isn't, I mean. Probably got a gene for it, have you?" He reared back and threw the empty soju bottle at the wall beside Changmin's head, splattering droplets of soju when it hit. Despite his level of intoxication, he'd not missed by much.

Changmin was proud that he'd not moved an inch, when really he'd been too surprised by the sudden move to react in time. But he'd rather risk a flogging than reveal that.

They stared at each other for the longest time, neither giving way, until Jaejoong collapsed back onto his sofa and reached for the next bottle.

"Get the fuck out of my sight," he said, and there wasn't even a hint of the earlier anger in his tone. His voice, like his eyes, held no emotion at all—and that was scarier and more disturbing than anything Captain Shim Changmin had ever come across.

***

Colonel Seong often worked late and with the base under threat it was no surprise to find him in his office, even though it was close to midnight.

"Come in, Captain," he waved when Changmin knocked. "Take a seat."

"Thank you, sir. I'll stand. It won't take long."

"Proceed." The man sounded bone tired and heartsick, but it wasn't Changmin's place to point that out. It wasn't his place to offer comfort either, even if he'd known how to go about that. It wasn't what he was here for, either. "I can't work with Major Kim, sir," he said, fighting to keep the disgust and the anger out of his voice and failing abysmally. "He's an ignorant, arrogant oaf with no regard for the rules or anything but his own achievements."

"Do you say that because you've spoken to him or because he's drunk?"

Changmin reeled back. He was angry and disgusted, yes. He hoped he'd never have to go near Major Kim again. But he hadn't planned on mentioning anything about the crate of soju on the major's table. "Sir?"

"Answer the question, Captain."

"Both," Changmin finally said sullenly.

"Have you ever spent three weeks on solo patrol, Captain? Nineteen days without any human contact? Nineteen days where you had nobody to watch your back while you slept or help you out when you were tired. Nineteen days without anyone to talk to, surrounded by nothing but countryside that can kill you if you're careless and always on the lookout for others like yourself that would do so even faster? Have. You. Ever?"

"No, sir."

"Then don't judge him before you've gotten to know him." The colonel's eyes glittered with tightly leashed anger. "You will work with Major Kim, Captain. Division tells me that you're the best intelligence officer they have, and Major Kim deserves the best we can give him when he goes to take down that shooter. And do you know why? Not because he's god's gift with a rifle. Not even because he's giving most of his life to keep others safe. Do you know why? Because Kim Jong Ki, the first victim, was Major Kim's best friend and his intelligence for the last four years. And I fucking don't want to lose an officer as valuable and dedicated and accomplished as Jaejoong, because taking revenge is all he can think about. It's your job to turn this mess into a civilised, efficient investigation. One that Major Kim can sink his teeth into. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." Changmin was too stunned to respond in any other way. Not that there was another response that wouldn't see him instantly court-martialled. The colonel knew it too, and he didn't bother with civility.

"Good. Now get the fuck out of my office. Dismissed."


	4. Do Over

They had been given a large office to themselves and authority to bring in anyone they needed to get the job done. Two computers, a laptop and a map table had been set up ready to use and the room even had a projector. Changmin was quietly impressed by the facilities he could expect when he worked with Kim Jaejoong. It was almost lavish. Maybe… 

No. 

Even the extremely rare carte blanche or the chance to lead his own investigations wouldn't make up for having to work with the arrogant oaf.  
Still, some of the words the colonel had spoken the previous night had stuck with Changmin. He thought he knew Kim Jaejoong. But did he really? Did he know the man enough to judge him?

The colonel clearly didn't think so and Changmin had wondered, when he'd struggled to relax far enough that sleep could find him, what it would feel like to spend nineteen days without any human contact. He wasn't chatty by any stretch of the imagination. Several of his psych assessments had called him taciturn and introverted, but he couldn't imagine not seeing another human face for so long, couldn't imagine existing without even the most cursory of interactions. A simple greeting, maybe, or a smile and a nod given in thanks to a stranger.

He'd wondered, too, whether Jaejoong would really be motivated by revenge. Whether he might be prepared to lose his career over it. And how he would recognise the signs and what he might do to avert disaster. Because the meaning of the colonel's words had been crystal clear to him: fuck this up at your peril.

Revenge wasn't something Changmin understood, so he focused first and foremost on Jaejoong's lack of human contact. And his own asinine behaviour at finding the man drunk. Changmin rarely drank, but he wasn't teetotal and he'd been drunk often enough in his life to know that the major would feel like shit warmed over if he ever made it out of bed and into his lavish office.

It looked enough like an apology to irk him, but he made sure that coffee, water and aspirin were to hand before he settled in front of a computer to analyse the crime scene data.

Jaejoong was only three minutes late.

With heavy-lidded, bloodshot eyes and a body wracked by fine tremors, the man did look like shit warmed over. And Changmin was far too surprised to see him before noon to make a comment. He merely pointed at the table where he'd set out the coffee and carried on reading. In the background, he could hear Jaejoong pour coffee, add sugar and rip open the packet of pills. A few clattered to the tabletop, revealing just how shaky the major's hands were after the previous night's excesses.

Then the other computer, set at an angle to Changmin's, booted up and soon mouse clicks and the speedy tapping of fingers on keyboard were the only sounds in the room, leaving no room for thoughts of fatigue, grief, overdue apologies or the effects of too much alcohol.

"Would you like some coffee?"

Changmin had been so absorbed in his reading that he hadn't heard the major move from his seat. The man's low voice, though, had broken through his abstraction. It had the quality of satin sheets, reminded him of the expressive eyes he'd admired before he knew whom they belonged to.

It was annoying that the one person who intrigued him, when nothing and nobody had done so in years, had to be Major Kim Jaejoong. It annoyed him even more that he had to pay for every moment he found the man enticing with an intense wave of guilt. And an even bigger one for every moment he found him irritating.

"Captain Shim?" The voice came again. A little louder this time but no less enticing. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please." Changmin forced the words through his lips. He didn't want to have to talk to the man. Didn't want to have to look at him or work with him. It reminded him too much of all he'd lost and made him wonder how different his life might have turned out without the decorated Major Kim.

"Are you deaf?"

"What?"

"I've asked you three times now whether you take milk or sugar?"

"Are you always so snappish or is that the hangover talking?" Changmin rose from his seat and faced Jaejoong. At least he was taller than the sniper. When he got close enough to accept the mug Jaejoong held out to him, the major had to look up. And yes, that did make Changmin feel better. As much as the flush that tinted the major's cheeks at his snarky comment.

"Snappish?" Jaejoong set the brimming mug on the table and picked up his own. "Suit yourself. But while your ears are halfway functional, tell me if anything struck you about Chung Min Cheol's position."

"Who is Chung Min Cheol?"

Jaejoong turned his head. An ocean of angry disbelief boiled in his eyes. "He's the shooter's second victim. The second one of our comrades he murdered. How is it you don't even know that much? Do you have your head stuffed so far up your ass that you simply don't care?"

Heat flushed Changmin's skin. It flooded over his face in a wave so strong that he couldn't have hidden it had he tried. "It… it slipped my mind," he stammered. "The name, I mean."

"Right."

Jaejoong spun away, dismissive and clearly not believing the excuse. Changmin couldn't blame him. How had he not known the second victim's name? He was new to the garrison, sure, but he'd read the autopsy reports. He must have seen the name. But he'd clearly not taken it in. And given that, what else had he missed?

"Can I expect an answer to my question at any point today?"

The sniper's voice was icy now, sharp as a shard. It prodded Changmin out of his abstraction and into mentally summarising what he'd read.

"The lieutenant was on the way from the office block to the cafeteria when he was shot," Changmin recalled. "The bullet took him in the head. The entry wound is just over his right eye."

"How does that differ to the shot that killed Jong Ki?"

"His entry wound was centre of the forehead."

"Conclusion?"

"The shooter changed position? Change of wind direction and strength? Lieutenant Chung might have been running after Jong Ki was shot."

"Right." The same single syllable reply and yet, the word sounded so different from earlier. The last time Jaejoong had used it, his tone had been dripping with disdain. This time, he was calm, focused, thinking.

"You weren't on the base when it happened, were you?"

"No."

"Do we have surveillance on the parade ground?"

"We do now. But it's not standard procedure so… no. May I ask what it is that bothers you?"

Jaejoong looked at him this time and Changmin was once more struck by the beauty of his fathomless eyes. Eyes that could hold pain and fury and too many secrets right alongside deep contemplation.

"I came up with the same three conclusions," he said seriously. "And none of them make sense."

"What makes you say that?" Changmin bristled as if the major had implied he was incapable to do his job.

Major Kim simply waved at his screen. "The weather report you requested states that atmospheric conditions were stable. The autopsy report says that the bullets hit both victims with approximately the same force and velocity. Snipers, once they set up, tend not to change their position unless it is necessary and both men were killed within two maybe three minutes of each other."

"That would suggest Lieutenant Chung was running."

"You clearly don't know Chung. Calmest guy you've ever met. Nothing short of an alien landing would get that guy to move faster than a trot. Awesome intelligence officer, but a slow coach like no other."

"Then the sniper moved," Changmin said, crossing the room to the map table and looking down at the lines he'd drawn earlier.

"Why?"

"How would I know? He was uncomfortable? Someone disturbed him? He suddenly realised he could be seen? He thought of a better angle?"

"You don't have a clue what you're talking about."

"Just because you do things a certain way, Major Kim, doesn't mean that everyone else has to do them the same way too."

"I do things a certain way because it's the most efficient way to do them and because I was trained that way. If the sniper is military - and I don't see how he could get good enough to shoot two men from a mile away without being in the military - then he was trained the exact same way I was trained."

"You really are arrogant, aren't you?" Changmin snapped. "What if I tell you that my brother was good enough to be considered for sniper school before he even finished boot camp?"

"I know all about your brother's prowess with a rifle, thank you."

The ice shards were back in Major Kim's voice and Changmin was biting his tongue, so that none of the words burning it right then would slip out. The major's dismissive attitude put his back up, especially when he remembered the sad, brave smile on his brother's face as he stood in the departure hall at Incheon Airport, ready to leave his life behind. His life. And the younger brother who had adored him.

A fight with Kim Jaejoong wouldn't bring his brother back. Neither would it get this case cleared up.

"We need to work out where his nest was," he said instead of the bitter, biting words he'd love to throw at the older man.

"He was set up right here," They were bent over the map table, and Jaejoong pointed out a small cluster of high rises at the southern edge of town.

"They are too far away," Changmin disagreed. He'd already considered that area and had dismissed it. "The medical report—"

"—erred on the side of caution, as usual," Jae brushed him aside. "The angle is perfect."

"That's not true. Both victims were facing more towards the cafeteria, which means the most likely nest for the shooter is—"

"Have you ever been shot, Captain Shim?"

"What?"

"It's not a difficult question. Have you ever been shot?"

The major's tone alone grated on Changmin's nerves. Kim Jaejoong sounded just like the arrogant, uncaring oaf his brother had always described him as and Changmin struggled to keep his temper. He really couldn't afford to piss off the colonel any further than he already had. And if he told he major what he really thought of him, Colonel Seong would get to hear of it. That much was certain. He took a deep breath and let it out.

"No, I've never been shot," he said very civilly.

"Then don't talk shit about stuff you don't understand. He was set up on top of one of those three blocks. And we're going to go out and find which one it was."


	5. Attempts at Apologies

The barista in the cafeteria made a mean chai latte. Jaejoong's mouth watered at the spicy scent that wafted across his face with the steam, even though he'd gotten the large mug for Captain Shim rather than himself. According to the barista, the captain had come in to get one every morning since he'd arrived on the base, so Jaejoong hoped that his peace offering would be acceptable.

He'd been harsh with the younger man the previous day and he needed to apologise. The mix of grief, fury and unwanted attraction, spiced with a fierce hangover, had turned Jaejoong's temper stormy. But taking out his moods on those around him wasn't his way. Not even when the intelligence captain had a knack for saying exactly the right thing to get Jaejoong riled.

The strap of his helmet swung loosely against his chin and he stopped just beside the cafeteria's door to tighten it. Colonel Seong had placed the whole base on alert. Body armour and helmets had to be worn by anyone passing unprotected areas—across the parade ground, between buildings, the cafeteria with its floor-to-ceiling windows. It was most likely overkill, but better than losing another life.

Jaejoong spotted the endless legs of Captain Shim almost as soon as he stepped from the cafeteria. The man was at least two inches taller than those around him and even the bulky body armour couldn't hide the long, lean lines that had taken Jaejoong's breath away. The man was stunning, whichever way the sniper looked at it. And he was simply delicious when he was furious.

Captain Shim had looked unbelievably gorgeous stalking the roofs of the high rises the previous afternoon, and not just because Jaejoong hadn't seen another human soul for three weeks prior. He'd have found the man attractive after spending a year living inside a modelling agency. The younger man's temper just added spice to his attraction. Utterly convinced that Jaejoong was wrong about the sniper's position, Changmin had not spoken a single word during the drive. His pout had driven Jaejoong so distracted he'd almost parked the car right in a wall.

When the first of the highrises proved a washout as far as sniper's nests were concerned, the pout softened to a smug little grin that gave Jaejoong all sorts of inappropriate ideas. For a moment he'd almost wished that he was wrong and that he might get to enjoy a proper conversation with his new partner on the back of that failure. Almost. But of course, he'd not been wrong. He'd done his job for too long to be mistaken about trajectories and lines of sight.

The pout returned in force, accompanied by a fierce frown, when they found the marks where the sniper had rested his rifle on the concrete edge of the roof. They'd taken photographs and samples, measured distances and angles, but even when Jaejoong invited speculation, the captain had remained stubbornly silent.

"He's an excellent intelligence officer, but not very easy to work with," Colonel Seong had admitted when Jaejoong had sought him out later that night to report and hear news. "His assessments say that he's opinionated, blunt and quick tempered. But he has the highest clear-up rate of anyone in the service and his focus is legendary."

"You had your eye on him for the squad." It wasn't a question and the colonel didn't take it as such.

"He has an excellent grasp on North Korean activities. But that's not the point right now. Can you work with him? Scuttlebutt says you're already fighting."

"We've hardly spoken. And I'd do almost anything to take down Jong Ki's murderer," Jaejoong admitted quietly.

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of, Jae. I've given you this case because I thought you're the best qualified to handle it. But if I feel that you're risking your career for revenge, I will have you reassigned, make no mistake about that."

"I said almost anything, sir."

"Your almost anything is too often a terminal solution," Colonel Seong pointed out. "And yes, most of the time that's exactly what's needed. But this case is different and you know it. This can't be swept under the rug or buried in the woods. We need to have the shooter alive and able to stand trial."

"I understand, sir."

"Good. I actually thought you and Captain Shim would be good for each other. You're too used to work on instinct alone and Jong Ki was too used to you to reign you in. You need someone by your side who does things by the book, and Shim Changmin, well… he needs to learn to rely a little less on the book and trust himself a little more."

Jae found a smile at that. A very brief one, but a smile nevertheless. "I'll keep that in mind."

He was almost out of the room when the colonel's voice held him back. "If I thought for one moment that he was like his brother, he wouldn't be here. I hope you know that."

Jae did know that. They'd gotten off to a rough start, he and the dishy Captain Shim, it was true. And he'd most likely only seen the man's least amicable side. But Jae would have bet his rifle that Changmin was exactly the way he showed himself to the world. When he was pissed off, you knew about it. When he had something to say, he said it. He wasn't the kind of man who held back. Or the kind of man who lived to score points off others.

Deciding to offer something very close to an apology had felt awkward. Remembering the thoughts that had brought him to that decision eased his mind.

Ssss….. thump.

Jae had his eyes on Captain Shim when a man close to him stumbled backwards with a strangled shout before his knees buckled.

"Down! Everybody down!"

Chai latte and coffee went flying as Jae threw himself towards Changmin, intent to get him down and to cover. He needn't have worried. As well trained as anyone else on the base, Changmin hit dirt and rolled. In seconds the area in front of the cafeteria was empty. Jae closed his eyes and replayed the last few moments. He'd been facing towards Changmin when a man not ten feet from him had stumbled… backwards… and spun… to the left.

Jae lifted his head and looked up… right at the high rises they'd checked out the day before.

Same nest. Same sniper.

And this time the son of a bitch was his…

Without another thought he was on his feet, sprinting across the empty square, changing direction every few seconds but always moving towards the gates of the base. Behind him, he heard voices yelling his name. One voice rose above the din, it was bright and sharp with alarm and still Jaejoong ignored it.

He raced to the transport bay and commandeered the first car he came to. It was an open jeep with a short-wheelbase and only two seats, but he barely noticed. He needed wheels, and the jeep would do. He swung himself into the driver's seat, gunned the engine and raced towards the base's gates, barely slowing enough to allow the guards to pull up the barrier.

The he was outside and racing towards the high-rises in the distance.

***

"What the fuck were you thinking haring off like that? If he'd been up here-" Captain Shim was in a hell of a temper. He was out of breath, too, having run up the stairs to the roof just like Jae had.

"He was up here." Jaejoong waved at the tiny marks on the concrete parapet, where the sniper had lain in wait. The man had been gone by the time Jae got to the roof, but he'd not had much time to clear up after himself and Jae silently congratulated himself for getting here so quickly.

"Yeah, fine… you're right… he was here. If you knew that, then why race out of the gate that way? He could see you. He could have shot you!"

That was actually a good point, Jaejoong thought. He spotted a tiny bit of metal that didn't belong on a roof, picked it up carefully with tweezers and sealed it in an evidence bag without inspecting it closely. He did the same thing with a small strip of foil he found close by. Why had the shooter not taken him out when he'd seen him coming? It would have been an easy shot, especially while Jaejoong had still been close to the base.

He rose from his crouch and peered over the parapet, imagining how the neighbourhood would look through a sniper's scope.

"He only had a clear shot until I reached the intersection," he said loud enough for Changmin to hear, even though he'd bent to his minute examination of the roof once more. "After that, the angle is too acute."

"You'd still have been in the kill zone for a couple of minutes at least. Did you believe he couldn't have hit you? Or that he would not?"

"Neither," Jaejoong grumbled and admitted, "I didn't think, okay? I'm used to working alone and making decisions on the fly. I just snapped into mission mode and acted."

"So you're telling me you'd have done the exact same thing if Kim Jong Ki had still been your intelligence? That's bullshit."

"Fuck it!" Jaejoong abruptly straightened from his crouch. Shim Changmin just wasn't listening and Jaejoong was sick of apologising for doing his job. "You drive me nuts with your constant whining. I can't fucking hear myself think. Here," he threw the evidence bags he held right into Changmin's face. "Since you know it all… deal with this." Hands in fists, he spun around and stalked from the roof.


	6. Discoveries

When Changmin returned to the base it was close to lunchtime. He was hungry since he had been on the way to get breakfast when the shooter had attacked, but he ignored it. Instead, he headed straight for their office carrying the evidence he and Jaejoong had collected. There were a surprising number of items, seeing they'd only gone over that roof the day before. Then they'd come away with photographs and a bit of metallic dust scraped from the parapet.

Now though, now it felt as if half a dust bin had exploded all over that roof. He had several scraps of foil, part of a baked pumpkin KitKat wrapper covered in Japanese script and few nondescript pieces of metal.

He needed to log them all and describe them in detail before he could hand them over to the techs in the lab for testing. That was going to take a while. At least, there was coffee.

He stacked the small bags neatly beside the computer, wondering if there was time to grab a snack from the cafeteria while the coffee brewed. Doing that meant leaving his evidence bags unsupervised, and since none of the offices in the base had locks on their doors, Changmin could just imagine Jaejoong walking in into the office and find them three seconds after he stepped out.

Maybe a snack could wait. He'd had enough of Jaejoong blowing a gasket for a day. And while arguments usually didn't bother him, he was reluctant to really get into it with the sniper. Again. And not just because Colonel Seong would make him rue the day he'd been born if he screwed this up. Leaving aside the impact this case was going to have on his career, he found it annoying how he and Kim Jaejoong always seemed to end up at loggerheads, even when Changmin did his best to keep matters between them professional, impersonal even.

He was desperately trying to see Major Kim as the arrogant, selfish, uncaring bastard his brother had described, but when he examined it closely and without anger, the evidence just didn't track. Arrogant the major undoubtedly was, but Changmin hadn't so far seen him be selfish or uncaring. He'd reacted to the shooter's attack before anyone else that morning. He'd yelled for people to take cover before he'd run across the parade ground without thought for his personal safety, but not—and Changmin was damned sure about that—without first checking that the wounded man was safe and being taken care of.

Changmin had no idea where Jaejoong had disappeared to after his outburst on the roof, but if he was a betting man Changmin would have looked for him in the base's hospital.  
None of those observations agreed with his brother's description of Kim Jaejoong's character, and that irritated the hell out of Changmin. He liked things orderly and neat. And Major Kim, with his tattoos, his fathomless eyes, his short temper and his total disregard for the rules was more likely to cause chaos rather than order in Changmin' mind. If the man found a stack of evidence bags in an unlocked room, unsupervised he'd… most likely do more than blow a gasket as he had on the roof that morning.

No. Finding food would have to wait.

Changmin shovelled four spoons of sugar into his mug of pitch black coffee to ward off the hunger pangs and settled beside his computer. The faster he got this done, the faster he could go and eat.

The second to last evidence bag stopped his heart.

It contained an item he was intimately familiar with: a tiny platinum charm shaped like a gingko leaf. The small pendant looked surprisingly lifelike, the reproduction faithful down to the thin veins on the leaf. The loop that held it on a chain was bent, as if it had been caught on something and wrenched open with force. Without conscious thought Changmin's fingers flashed to his neck, to the thin chain he wore alongside his tags, checking the presence of the gingko leaf. It was there in its usual place as he had known it would be.

It was possible, of course, that someone else had lost the tiny charm on that roof. But it wasn't likely. The ornament that was now enclosed in clear plastic had been handmade to order, just like the one that adorned Changmin's neck. His mother had purchased the design along with the finished charms, so the chances that the artist had made others was slim. So in all likelihood, the charm Jaejoong had picked up from beside the parapet belonged to his brother.

And there was only one way it could have ended up on that roof.

***

Jaejoong hated hospitals. Hated everything about them from the white walls to the cold, conditioned air to the smell of disinfectant that soaked not just into his clothes but his very skin, until he could smell nothing else for days on end. The worst tour of his whole army career had been one where he'd left for his patrol after having a medical checkup in the morning.

He'd almost walked into an ambush because he couldn't smell the enemy lying in wait for him. And that was just the beginning of a clusterfuck of a patrol.

Hating hospitals didn't mean he stayed out of them, though. Not when Hyun Rin was lying behind those doors in the sterile whiteness. They'd gone through boot camp together, had been through sniper school together and had been selected for Colonel Seong's exclusive Solo Squad on the same day. Imagining Rin falling prey to a rogue sniper was…

… as bad as imagining the irritating Captain Shim suddenly being gone.

And wasn't that an unexpected thought? One that must have made it onto his face, too, if the sudden knowing grin on Rin's was anything to go by.

"Come on, spill it. Who finally got to you?" he cackled.

"What?"

"Don't even try to tell me that dreamy look is because you caught sight of my sorry mug."

"Are you drugged?"

That hit the expected nerve, but even pain had never stopped Rin from teasing. "Ha. I only wish I was as drugged as you are full of shit, my friend. But the doc's never been one for dishing out the good stuff unless your guts are hanging out."

"How bad is it?" Jaejoong crossed the room to Rin's bedside.

"Had worse," Rin waved, though the movement caused a hiss and a grimace. "I must have moved just at the right time. Took it in the vest. Broke my collar bone. Doc's nailed it back together."

Jae pulled a chair up and sat. "That's three down in as many days. And we don't stand out to begin with. Why do I feel like someone's targeting the squad?"

"Two and a half down, if you please. I'm gonna be back. And kicking ass."

"I'm glad about that. I couldn't have faced—"

"You could. And you would." The ever-present smile was gone from Rin's face. "You're stronger than that Jae. Stronger than all of us together. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Unless you want Jong Ki to come back and kick your ass, that is."

"I wish." Jaejoong hid his face in his hands and breathed. Sometimes, dealing with grief required another person, needed more than a dark room, a crate of soju and helpless rage. Rin had come to him when his wife had died, when he'd been too damned close to swallowing a bullet. Rin understood. He didn't try to argue that wishing for what he couldn't have was futile. He didn't try to chide him for misdirecting his rage. He didn't even try to distract Jae from the pain with inane chatter.

Not right away.

Rin let him sit and breathe and say his goodbyes. He let him think through events and assess the evidence so far. Only then, when Jaejoong looked up, did the grin return.

"Now tell me… who did you have to blow to land the gorgeous ice prince as a partner?"

  
***

Changmin was sitting in the lab reading over the latest North Korean intelligence reports. He had handed over the stack of evidence bags hours ago to the techs for testing, and yet he jumped guiltily the moment Jaejoong's form materialised beside him.

"Fuck!" he wheezed. "Don't fucking sneak!"

"Sorry." The sniper didn't sound sorry at all. "Life skill. Difficult to turn off. I'm done for the day and wondered if you maybe fancy dinner? There's a tiny barbecue place just round the next block that's quiet and does excellent food."

Changmin wanted to decline, but his stomach—tided over with coffee and sugar all day—growled like a race car engine at the very idea of food.

"That sounds like a yes," Jae smiled and Changmin handed back the papers he'd been reading and followed the sniper out of the base.

There was something subtly different about the man that evening. If he'd been asked, Changmin couldn't have said what it was, but it made the sniper feel more approachable. Less abrasive. Not that Changmin was going to relax his guard for even a moment. He'd experienced Jaejoong's temper first hand and he wasn't looking to repeat the experience. Keeping his distance and keeping their interaction purely professional seemed the safest course of action to him.

"The metal from the roof and the bullets they collected point to an American-made rifle, not a North Korean one," Changmin reported once they'd settled into a quiet corner and platters of raw meat and vegetables had been placed beside their grill.

"But you were reading North Korean intelligence reports when I found you."

"I've missed a few days during the transfer," Changmin admitted. "I was catching up to make sure we didn't miss anything."

"And did we?"

"Nothing that jumps out at me. Activity levels are normal. No unexpected chatter, nothing on the Chinese channels either. And the border's said to be quiet. The infil alert you were working on is still in place, however."

"How many men are stationed on this base, do you know?"

"Not exactly. Two thousand, three thousand? More? Why?"

"What's the likelihood that a foreign shooter would hit three members of the same squad in two separate attacks on a base this size?"

"Slim." Changmin dunked strips of barely cooked beef into chili sauce and shoved it into his mouth, hoping that pretending to be hungry would save him from having to expand on his answer. The tiny gingko leaf at his throat suddenly weighed a ton and Changmin was sure that there was guilt stamped all over his face.

If there was, Jaejoong didn't see it. "Slim, yes," he continued his thought. "So I'm wondering if he's targeting the squad specifically."

"A revenge attack, you mean?" Changmin had to say something. "Are there any events in the squad's mission history that might be the cause? Most of your missions are highly classified."

"You looked?"

"Of course. Wouldn't you?"

The tense atmosphere eased a little when Jaejoong laughed. "Yes, I would too," he admitted. "And since I can't remember all our missions, I'll request access tomorrow if you agree to wait that long."

Once more Changmin felt that subtle change in Jaejoong. The way he spoke, even the way he looked at Changmin had changed and yet…

"You're proud to serve in Colonel Seong's unit," he hazarded a guess.

"Our squad's the best there is. In five years, only one person has ever left it."

"He didn't just leave the squad, you know," Changmin cut in. He wasn't angry, but he felt it needed saying. "My brother left the country. I hear from him once a year on my birthday. I've not seen him in almost three years."

Jaejoong opened his mouth. And then closed it without saying a word. He picked up a bottle of soju and filled Changmin's glass before lifting his in a movement that could have been a salute. Or an apology.

They drank in silence for a while, each spun into their thoughts until the tension between them dissipated, and morphed into something much more dangerous.

"I love that cologne you wear," Changmin suddenly said, completely out of the blue. It made no sense that the comment should make Jaejoong blush scarlet and avoid his gaze. "I'm sorry," he said immediately. "Wrong thing to say?"

Jaejoong waved him off. "Stupid, really," he said softly. "Coming home can be hard, sometimes. Wearing cologne is… it reminds me that I'm no longer out there."

"That's what I thought when I saw your tattoos," Changmin replied equally softly. "That they're a reminder. The coming home part didn't even occur to me."

"They told me you're smart," Jaejoong smirked. "Being on patrol is easier. It's black and white. Doesn't often get lonely. Here, lines blur all the time. You see threats that aren't there and miss danger that is."

"People."

"And agendas. It'd be okay if they were constant, but they're not and I find that confusing. Someone tells you that all they want in life is this one thing and you plan accordingly. Then you catch up a month later and it's all changed. What drove them a month ago is suddenly no longer important. Drives me nuts at times."

"Is that how long you're out there? A month at a time?"

"They'll try and keep it to less than that. Blunts the edges, apparently. I've done longer stints, though, and it hasn't bothered me much. When I start daydreaming about hot showers and soju, that's when I know it's time to come in."

Changmin dipped a finger into the dish of chilli sauce and sucked on it in contemplative silence. The fierce bite of the chilli helped him focus and organise his thoughts. "It sounds… not idyllic, really, but… peaceful?" He chuckled. "I read a lot of Jack London as a boy and what you've just said feels like his books."

"London. And Cooper. And Rainsford James, yes." Jaejoong was smiling now. "I read those too. Definitely not idyllic. But I give you peaceful.

They talked of other things after that. Sights they'd seen, places they'd been to, things that riled or comforted them. Their voices dropped lower, their gazes clung longer, grew searching and appraising until the room around them seemed unseasonably warm and the air thick like treacle. It was the most peaceful evening Changmin had spent in years and one he didn't want to end, even when they parted at the entrance to the barracks.


	7. Close to Home

"I'm not, you know," Changmin said as he stepped into Hyun Rin's hospital room the next morning.

"You're not what?"

"An ice prince."

"I see you're not objecting to me calling you gorgeous."

"There you were just stating the truth." Changmin smirked. He settled in the visitor's chair and carefully placed the two mugs of coffee he'd brought on Rin's bedside table. He and Jaejoong had drunk quite a bit during their meandering discussion the previous night, but Changmin's mind had retained most of the information they'd exchanged. And there were a few things he wanted to follow up before he left the base. "How are you feeling?"

"In need of a distraction," Rin replied. "Which is why I'm grateful you're here. Where is Jae?"

"Doing battle with military bureaucracy if I'm not missing my mark," Changmin said. "I wish him good luck, but I have my own ways of gathering information."

"Which includes talking to invalids?"

Changmin scoffed. "If you're an invalid, I'm Rapunzel," he decided. "I used to be on the team receiving your mission reports. Before you joined the solo squad I mean. Nobody who takes out two enemy infiltrators while sporting a broken rib and a bullet in one thigh ever deserves to be called an invalid. You could probably take me right now without breaking a sweat, cast and all."

"No, I couldn't." Rin's cheerful face grew serious. "That case was personal. It makes a difference."

Fuck, that one cut close. Changmin breathed through the panic, slowly and evenly. He kept his gaze down, his hands loose on his thighs, all the while wondering why he had thought that he could fool Hyun Rin.

"What is it you want to know?" Rin asked when his coffee mug was almost empty.

"Jaejoong has this theory that this could be a revenge attack," Changmin found his voice again. "You know, three men from the same squad out of a cast of thousands. Is there a chance that it's possible? Could anyone really have a grudge against the solo squad?"

"Oh, it's possible." Rin's tone urged caution.

"Can you tell me?"

"You may not like to hear it."

"Rin, please. We have two men in the morgue and you in hospital. I want to get to the bottom of it before someone else gets hurt. How can I not want to hear what you know?"

"Because this concerns your brother. And I don't like to talk badly about someone's family."

Ice slid down Changmin's spine. He'd heard that story almost daily for nine long weeks while his brother drank and raged and drank some more. Rin was right. He wasn't keen to hear it again. That said, he'd never heard Rin's version of events and after realising just the day before that there were inconsistencies between the stories he'd been told and what he'd seen himself of Jaejoong's actions…. Maybe this was a story he needed to hear. Even if telling it made Rin uncomfortable.

"Thank you for saying that," he almost whispered. "But this is important and I need to know. Will you please tell me?"

What he got to hear was unexpected. The man Rin described bore no resemblance to the man Changmin called his brother. It was like hearing stories about a stranger, hearing how the man had always gotten by through exploiting others, how he'd ferret out secrets and then blackmail the owners into keeping silent. How he never did chores, never bought his own drinks, how he lorded it over everyone… until he learned something about Jaejoong and tried his games with the sniper.

"He miscalculated, you know," Rin said quietly. "He thought Jaejoong was like everyone else, that he'd want his secrets kept quiet. But Joongie isn't like everyone else. He stood up at team assembly and very calmly reported that he liked men, and that Ran Joon had tried to blackmail him over that fact. I can still see him standing there. _I can't change what I am,_ he said. _It has never affected my work, so I've never made it public, but I am not going to hide it and make myself a target for blackmail. Not when it would put all of us in danger. If what I am precludes me from continuing to do what I love, then so be it. I'm willing to take that chance._ There was nothing left for Ran Joon to say after that. The colonel had him arrested and during the investigation a lot of his other blackmail schemes came to light. There was a courts-martial, of course. The judges decided to issue a dishonourable discharge and within a week he was gone."

Rin's voice trailed off. His gaze held an apology that Changmin barely had the strength to acknowledge. For the first time ever he realised that _shaken to the core_ wasn't just a turn of phrase. Deep inside him, his sense of self had been torn from its moorings and it left him foundering and adrift. He'd never seen his brother like that, would not have considered him capable of blackmail, extortion and all the other vices Rin had accused him of. It didn't occur to him to dispute Rin's words. The man wouldn't have said anything he couldn't back up. And at any rate, courts-martial were a matter of public record.

"I think… I think I need to be alone for a bit. I need to think." The words were soft, barely there, but Rin heard. He stretched out his good hand and touched Changmin's shoulder.

"If you hadn't asked…"

"I know. Thank you."

Changmin left the base lost in a fog of memories and recriminations. He drove by rote, only part of his mind paying attention to traffic lights and other road users. The majority of his thoughts whirled and spun, chased around Changmin's mind like leaves in an autumn storm. He pulled off the road when he reached the river, getting out and walking down to the bank. He used to come here a lot just after Ran Joon had left the country, used to find solace in the colours of the leaves and the soft lapping of the water against the riverbank. Now and then, he'd even catch sight of a Kingfisher and the brief flash of bright blue would cheer him as few other things could.

Now he had to acknowledge that everything he thought he knew had been a lie. Finding Ran Joon's talisman on the roof the previous day had just been the beginning. Then, Changmin had hoped to find an explanation, a way to refute what part of his mind already knew. Now…now his task was harder. In this teeming city full of innocent bystanders he had to find his brother and arrest him.

It wouldn't be easy. But unless he wanted to go to Jaejoong, tell him about the charm and ask his help—not something he planned to do after having formed a first, tentative understanding that would allow them to work together—the task had to be his. Despite feeling that he'd never known his brother, Changmin was convinced that he was the best man for that job. He might have been forced to realise that he'd never truly known Ran Joon's mind, but he did know how the man acted. Better than anyone else.

***

There was music coming from Changmin's quarters. Loud, wailing guitar riffs, manic drums and rough, angry lyrics. It fit with what Hyun Rin had told him of Changmin's state of mind when leaving the base's hospital. Jaejoong couldn't imagine hearing a story like the one Rin had told about a close friend, let alone someone who he looked up to like Changmin seemed to have looked up to his brother.

Jaejoong had spent half the morning trying to get their mission reports declassified so Changmin could read them. When he'd failed—just for the moment until the colonel's normal assistant had returned from his honeymoon and could vouch for him—he'd started to go through them by himself, taking detailed notes to share with Changmin. It wasn't as good as Changmin putting his intelligence skills to use while reading them himself, and most likely they'd miss clues that way, but right then it was the best Jaejoong could do.

Changmin hadn't been in the office they shared when he got back, head and notebook full of memories. Both computers were turned off, the kettle sat cold and empty and it seemed that Changmin hadn't been near the place all day.

Since he couldn't believe that Changmin would ever take an easy day, especially in the middle of an investigation, Jaejoong had gone looking for his wayward partner. Without success. Changmin was in none of the places he could reasonably be expected to be—gym, lab, communications room, library, training room, intelligence offices—and Jaejoong finally learned that he had signed out a car and left the base. When Jaejoong called Changmin's mobile, he didn't get an answer.

It had been nearing dinner time when Jaejoong admitted defeat and went to see Hyun Rin. Only to be told of the conversation Rin and Changmin had had. A conversation that had sent Changmin off base, looking as if his world had been shattered. Now there was music blaring from Changmin's quarters, and Jaejoong's calls and knocks had gone unanswered.

As a sniper, Jaejoong had been trained to endless patience. He could spend days holed up in hiding, just waiting for the one moment when his target was exposed enough to allow him a shot. He could track insurgents through woods and over mountains, never letting himself been heard or seen. But when it came to people—especially gorgeous, stubborn men who were too proud to share their troubles, men like Captain Shim—his patience had a definite limit. And half a day of running around the base looking for the man had damn well exhausted it.

A quick look over his shoulder assured him that the corridor was as deserted as he needed it to be for what he was about to do. Then he had skeleton keys in his hand, and Changmin's door opened only moments later.

A wave of deafening noise washed over him and Jaejoong quickly stepped inside and closed the door before one of the other floor's occupants could make an appearance to complain about the racket. And his first order if business was to turn the music down. Even before he checked on the state of the room's owner.

Changmin was a sight. Barefoot and dressed in loose sweatpants and a long-sleeved top, he leaned against the couch with his long legs sprawled out on the floor. His head rested on the couch cushions and his eyes were closed. Whether he was aware of the din in the room was anyone's guess.

Jaejoong settled on his knees beside the coffee table that had been pushed to the side to make room for a small, untidy army of empty soju bottles and sighed. The top was littered with photographs. Some old, some very old… but all showed Ran Joon and a much younger Changmin. One had to be blind to miss the adoring looks the younger man was directing towards his older brother, the ease and trust they seemed to have between them.

And blindness had never been one of Jaejoong's failings.

Changmin's head slid on the dark leather cushion and the soft yellow light from the wall sconces brushed across his cheeks. Jaejoong saw the thin streaks then, long dried but as visible in the gloom as fresh scars. Something hot boiled up inside of him, something fierce and tender that needed violence to calm it. Violence, or the soft touch of a hand on his face.

"It's okay," Changmin slurred as if he'd heard every single one of the thoughts boiling in Jaejoong's head.

It was definitely not okay, but by the time Jae was ready to say so, Changmin was dead to the world once more.

 _Fucking Ran Joon. Bastard had a talent for screwing with people's heads. Got off on it, too. He's never been one to take responsibility for his actions. And you're paying the price for it._ It was a shame that Changmin was too out of it to listen when Jaejoong told him so.

Unwilling to leave the younger man where he'd found him, Jaejoong slipped one arm under Changmin's neck, one under his knees and heaved. His muscles bunched and flexed as he staggered to his feet. Fortunately, the bedroom wasn't far and Changmin barely stirred when he was lowered to the blankets. He curled into himself a little and grumbled some unintelligible complaint when Jaejoong shoved a pillow under his head. He scrunched his nose as if he tried to make sense of something senseless, but then he fast asleep once more.

Jaejoong sat beside the bed and used his fingertips to smooth the frown from Changmin's brow. The intelligence specialist was one of the most beautiful men Jaejoong had ever met. From a distance, his endless legs and stunning shape could draw a crowd. Up close, Jaejoong could admire the chiselled cheekbones and think of all manner of inappropriate uses for that generous mouth. All before Changmin opened his eyes and his fierce glare sent lightning zinging through Jae's veins.

It was astonishing, really, how two people who were seemingly so close could be so different. Ran Joon had been jovial, easy to be around, anda total bastard underneath. Changmin, though considered brilliant, had a reputation for being abrasive, short, impatient and difficult to work with.

Changmin looked nothing like Ran Joon, _was_ nothing like Ran Joon and yet… how many people were wary of him, judged him and kept him at a distance because of his brother's actions? How much had Ran Joon's history impacted his career? Jaejoong had no idea. But the simple fact that Changmin was here, distraught after learning the truth about Ran Joon, painted his character in more detail than any psych eval that Jaejoong had ever read.

"I know he's your brother," Jaejoong whispered, a deep ache in his voice as he watched the younger man sleep. "But believe me when I tell you that you're nothing like him."


	8. Backfoot

Changmin didn't drink to excess so frequently that waking with a hangover was commonplace, though the shitty combination of cotton mouth, churning gut and blinding headache wasn't novel. Nor was throwing his alarm clock across the room in a fit of pique when it woke him long before he was ready to deal with another day.

The clock hit the wall and fell to pieces with a satisfying crash and tinkle and Changmin was glad he'd made the effort to buy it after the last time.

When he'd destroyed his phone.

Which had been much harder to explain.

He invariably felt guilty the morning after he'd drunk himself into a stupor. Maybe because it happened so rarely in his disciplined, orderly world. Maybe because it meant that his customary calm and logic had deserted him and he'd gotten far too emotional over something or other. So emotional that he'd needed the alcohol to deal with it.

This morning was no different. Guilt swathed him like a blanket until he started to wonder when or how he'd gone to bed. Then memories rushed in. Memories that held enough of Jaejoong to cause a wave of heat to engulf him from head to toe.

Jaejoong had put him to bed.

He'd sat beside him and talked to him.

Shit. Changmin rolled out of bed with a groan and staggered to the shower, berating himself incessantly while he shivered under the freezing spray. He should have considered that before he drowned himself in soju. Should have made sure Jaejoong wouldn't ever get to see him like that… helpless, vulnerable. Unprofessional.

Not that Changmin could recall a single word the sniper had spoken. But his mind had no trouble imagining the conversation. Jaejoong had probably enumerated Changmin's failings, told him how much of a disgrace he was drinking himself silly in the middle of a case when he should be out there finding…. his brother.

For once, Changmin didn't care that he left wet footprints all over his floors. The pictures were as he'd left them. The adoration on the younger Changmin's face when he'd looked at his brother hadn't vanished either. If Jaejoong had seen those… and he'd have to have been blind to miss them… Another groan made it out of Changmin's throat.

This was worse than quicksand.

First, hearing Rin telling him things about his brother he'd never have been able to imagine. Or believe if someone else had done the telling.

Then Jaejoong, who'd been part of those very stories, seeing evidence of how much Ran Joon had meant to Changmin.

As if their working relationship wasn't a shit fest already.

Now there really was nothing else for it. Changmin had to find his brother and stop him before he killed someone else. He had to find him in this sea of people, before anyone else did. Even if he had to call in favours.

Determined, Changmin dressed and left the base. He wasn't looking forward to the morning's work, but at least it kept him out of Jaejoong's way.

***

He heard the klaxon before he'd reached the main gate and floored the throttle of his jeep. The gate guard saw him coming and while protocol dictated that the base should be on lock-down, he recognised Changmin and let him through.

Changmin drove into a sea of chaos. Soldiers milling this way and that. Screams mixed with orders bellowed at top volume to restore order. Then he saw the smoke. And the flames. And human forms lying motionless.

Training kicked in. Changmin braked the jeep to a stop at the edge of the parade ground and stepped right into the aimless exodus.

"You and you," he pointed at two burly forms, "with me. The rest keep your heads down and get to cover. Form groups of three and stand ready to receive casualties."

"Sir… we should—"

"Shut up. Follow."

Keeping low, he zig-zagged his way to the nearest motionless, uniform-clad shape, recognised a fellow intelligence officer. The man was bleeding from a gash in his thigh and there were burns on his hands.

Changmin dropped to his knees. A tie appeared in his field of vision and he took it automatically. "Any other wounds?" he ask while he tied it around the man's thigh as tight as he could.

"No."

"What happened?"

"The side of the office blew in. Smoke. Flames."

"Did you see where the attack came from?"

The man shook his head and winced. Changmin clapped him on the shoulder, then turned to the two men with him. "Get him out of here," he ordered. "Keep low. Move fast."

He allowed himself five seconds to watch, then he turned and looked for the next casualty. And then the one after that. The screaming abated while he worked, turned into a steady stream of orders and instructions, and his mind started to see patterns as others worked their way from the edge of the parade ground to the centre of the melee just as he was.

The building that housed the offices of the solo squad had taken the brunt of the attack. A wall was caved in and what was visible was wreathed in flames, which were slowly beaten back by jets of water. Smoke stung his eyes and caught in his throat.

"Where the fuck is your armour?"

The relief he felt at hearing Jae's irate voice was disproportionate to the occasion. He knew that. He also knew that he'd subconsciously looked around for the sniper from the moment he'd arrived on the scene. He'd expected Jaejoong to be right in the middle of the mess and anxiety had grown when he'd not found the man where he expected him to be.

Now that anxiety was gone. Memories of the previous night came back. And with it a swift stab of anger. So fierce that Changmin didn't even trust himself to look at Jaejoong.

"I asked you a question."

"And I'm too busy for pointless shit." He turned away, intent to get the next man assessed and moved to safety. It was what he been trained to do and when his world was reduced to smoke all around him, to screams and shouts and milling people, he reacted as he'd been trained. Jaejoong seemed to get that. He disappeared and moments later a new group of soldiers arrived to help him move casualties, clearly corralled and sent across to him by the sniper.

And so it went on. Methodically, relentlessly, until Changmin found himself once more at the edge of the parade ground. He was crawling into the shelter of the cafeteria so he could stand up and assess the whole site when Jaejoong reappeared, soot smudged and blood stained as he was himself. And carrying a protective vest and helmet.

"Get dressed," he snarled as he thrust the items at Changmin. "This discussion isn't over."

"Get over yourself." Changmin shrugged into the armour. It fit him a little too snugly, but it would do. The attack site looked to be cleared of casualties, the fire mostly out. "I was off base. I came in just as the alarm sounded."

"He could have been waiting to target the rescue efforts. You could have been killed."

"But I wasn't." Changmin was out of patience. His personal safety was well down the list in the face of real casualties and burning buildings. "Was it a grenade?"

"No. He hit the gas store between the back of the infirmary and the solo squad offices. Looking at that mess, I suppose he got one of the oxygen cylinders."

"Position?" Jaejoong was silent so long that Changmin turned to chance a look. The sniper was clearly pissed… but that was hardly a new development. "Did you manage to triangulate his position?" he asked again.

"No. The whole fucking store blew up and half the office block. How the fuck do you expect me to—"

"I wasn't. I simply asked a question." Changmin tightened the strap on his borrowed helmet, ready to step out of the shelter of the wall. "You didn't tell me where you were when he attacked. For all I know, you could have seen the strike."

"You didn't tell me where you went, either."

"For fuck's sake, Kim! What are we… five? Since when do I have to check in with you?"

"Since we're fucking working together and there's a sniper targeting the solo squad. A sniper who knows this base. Letting me know where you are is common courtesy. You—"

Jaejoong turned to point a finger at Changmin's chest. Usually, he'd have taken exception to such behaviour, but right then, he couldn't look away from those blazing eyes. Anger, sure. Frustration, oh yes. But there was also something… something that made Changmin's chest grow tight… something hot and soft and…

"You were fucking wasting my time! Time I could have spent chasing after that bastard!"

"Don't blame me for your inadequacies, _sir_!" Changmin sniped back on autopilot. Then, belatedly maybe, his brain caught up to his ears. "What makes you say he's targeting the solo squad?"

"I've been saying that—"

"Now. What makes you say that now? What makes you think he knows the base?"

"The offices are not marked in any way. And yet… he picked out the solo squad again. Isn't that enough evidence for you? How many times do I have to run that by you to make you accept it? The fucker is playing with us. He hits nobody but the squad. On a base this size that's—"

_Ssss…thump. Ssss….thump._

Changmin was on top of Jaejoong, face down in the churned mud of the once pristine parade ground, before he'd even properly heard the telltale hiss. The thwack of impact came a second later, right where they'd both been standing.

"Son of a bitch!"

Jaejoong pushed at Changmin, desperate to see. His eyes assessed the impact sites, his head swivelled to measure angles and distance and then he squirmed out from under Changmin and took off running. Right across the open parade ground.

On a normal day, Changmin was fast. Now fury turned him almost supersonic. Despite Jaejoong's head start he caught up with him in the transport bay.

"You are a fucking idiot," Changmin screamed as he grabbed hold of Jaejoong and slammed him into a wall. "Can't you stop to think for one single moment?" He got right into Jaejoong's space and feeling the heat of the lean body all down his front gave him a secret thrill. One that kicked his ire up another notch. "Do I have to fucking draw this for you, sir? He just tried to take you down. He failed. We already established that he has an angle the moment you set foot outside the gate. So you're fucking proposing to go after him? NOW?"

Changmin couldn't remember ever swearing so much. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so afraid. And why was he even noticing stupid things right now? Like Jaejoong's eyes and the confusion in them? The way his tongue came out to swipe at his bottom lip? The streak of soot close to his temple? Why did it fucking matter when—

Thinking was overrated.

Kissing the stupid out of Major Kim as if he owned the man was soooo much better.


	9. Traps

Jaejoong leaned against the garage wall, mind blank, breath gone and knees rubbery from the unexpected, and shockingly passionate attack. Ever since the day he'd returned from his patrol to find the base under attack, Changmin had been a thorn in his side and the mix of attraction, resentment and frustration had been hard to contain at times.

And now, finally, Jaejoong realised why.

A furious Changmin was a sight to behold. That much was true. But he was also something unexpectedly vibrant and alive. Something worlds away from the semi-detached life of lonely patrols and only slightly less lonely downtimes that Jaejoong led. Jaejoong had played on it a little if he was honest with himself. He'd enjoyed riling Changmin, simply to bask in his temper as if it was a rain of glitter.

This, though… this combination of fear, force and fury was something else.

Combustible. That's what it was. Combustible and incendiary, because it had taken maybe two heartbeats to set Jaejoong's blood alight and his body on fire.

He licked his lips, tasting parade ground dust and sweat and Changmin. The memory of that forceful, angry kiss hovered close and the shiver that raced down his spine was entirely inappropriate to the conversation they were having. However one-sided it currently was.

"What the fuck do you think you're going to achieve, rushing out at the drop of a hat?" Changmin riled at him. He stalked the transport bay, graceful and lethal like an angry tiger, though there was nothing graceful about his rant. "He can see you leave the base, idiot. You said so yourself. So running out there is not the way to get to him. Neither is getting yourself fucking shot!"

Changmin wasn't hiding his apprehension, nor could Jaejoong overlook the remnants of fear that tightened the younger man's shoulders and painted colour into his high cheekbones. Shim Changmin had been worried for Jaejoong. Far more than he'd feared for himself.

What had happened to the man who'd resented him? Who blamed Jaejoong for ruining his brother's life? When had all the openly shown disgust turned into something that looked like Changmin cared whether Jaejoong lived or died?

The need to grab the nearest wheels and go after the shooter died a death under Changmin's fierce glare. All of a sudden, understanding what was changing between them, listening to Changmin plan and ask questions in return became far more important.

"So tell me the best way to get to him, then." Jaejoong pushed away from the wall and grabbed Changmin's elbow, dragging him towards the transport bay's exit and towards their quarters. "You seem to have planned it all out. So why don't we sit down and you explain it to me?"

To his surprise, he didn't have to argue. Much. Changmin fell into step beside him, following where Jaejoong led. The angry tirade died away and nothing was left to tell of the unexpected encounter than a flush in their cheeks and lips swollen from an angry kiss.

***

"We need to make the hunt proactive," Changmin said seriously from his corner on Jaejoong's wide couch. He'd blinked a little when Jae had led him to their quarters, seemingly forgetting that their office was a pile of water-drenched ash and smoldering plastic. "We react every time there's an attack, but that's all we do. It's not good enough to catch him. We need to get the jump on him, get a step ahead. Make him react to our actions."

"Agreed." Jaejoong couldn't explain it, but he liked seeing the younger man in his quarters. The high cheekbones and long legs seemed to add to the decor, making the room feel brighter… somehow more lived in. Now, if he could get the stubborn man to actually look at him… "But how are you planning to get the jump on him when you even dispute that he's targeting the solo squad?"

That brought the dark head around as Jaejoong had known it would. And there was the glare he had grown used to, though the defiant snarl was absent. Instead, Changmin took a deep breath, relaxed his tight shoulders and started to explain.

"I'm not disputing it. There's a distinct possibility that he is after the solo squad. What I have a problem with is you making assumptions and jumping to conclusions based on those assumptions. You're fixating on one possible target, when the data could just as easily fit others. That's a dangerous way to go."

"Don't you ever act on instinct alone?" Jae had long been curious about that. He'd checked his colonel's assertions and Captain Shim's reputation as an intelligence officer wasn't a smoke screen. He didn't just have the highest clear up rate in the army. He topped the rankings in damn near all the security services. And he was fast about it, too. So fast, at times, that it couldn't all be down to data and logical progressions unless the man had a brain like a chess champion. Intuition had to play into the equation on some level, though Changmin seemed so controlled and rational that it seemed unlikely… until Jaejoong had found himself pinned to a wall and at the receiving end of one seriously hot kiss.

"Not… alone… maybe." The answer was hesitant and that in itself was fascinating. "I do play hunches and yes, sometimes I react intuitively, but I try and back up my choices with solid evidence more often than not." The dark gaze dropped away from Jaejoong's face once more, focussed on the books and pictures that lined Jaejoong's wall. "The profile I've built up for the shooter says that he's methodical, but maybe a little careless, emotional perhaps. So logically, staking out the area around that roof should bring results."

"But?" Nine times out of ten, Jaejoong worked on instinct. He supposed that his mind did the same loops and calculations Changmin's did, he just wasn't aware of it. Listening to Changmin follow a line of reasoning was fascinating. Watching the man's tongue sneak out to wet the full lips made him think of things other than hunting rogue snipers.

"But my gut says that a stakeout would fail. That he's expecting exactly that course of action."

"And that annoys you?"

"Of course," Changmin's temper heated. His voice picked up in volume and venom, both. "He's fucking playing games!" he snapped. "It won't change the outcome. All it does is waste time and cost lives."

Jaejoong just held back his laughter. Now he was getting somewhere and the glimpse into the mind of the famed ice prince was… riveting. "Try telling him that," he teased. "Maybe he'll present himself with his hands up."

"He won't."

Changmin was so focussed, he didn't hear the smile in Jaejoong's voice, nor did he get the joke. He was so busy reasoning his way into a sniper's mind that Jaejoong dared to use his distraction to narrow the gap between them, shifting on the soft leather of the sofa.

"Our best chance to apprehend him is a trap. We need to lure him with a bait he craves. In a way he doesn't anticipate."

Only a very small part of Jaejoong's mind kept track of their conversation. The rest of him remembered the heat of Changmin's body against his, the passion and fire in the unexpected kiss. And wanted more. It was useful, then, that he was used to divide his attention, so even distracted he caught the strange tone in Changmin's voice.

"The idea doesn't appeal to you," he offered softly.

"No. Traps are dangerous," Changmin bit out. "Trapping a gamer… because it's impossible to fully reason out his motivation… or gauge his level of engagement…there are always casualties."

Ah.

Jaejoong wouldn't have gotten to his current rank had he been slow. Or stupid. He heard what Changmin didn't say… heard the pain in Changmin's voice…and regretted some of the insults he'd thrown the younger man's way when they met. Making assumptions? Check. Jumping to conclusions based on those assumptions? Also check.

And he'd really have to do something about that. After he'd roused Changmin from his abstraction.

"The intervals between the attacks are getting shorter. That's worrying," Changmin fretted, sorting through the tangle of data they'd collected. "At first, he targeted just members of the solo squad, now he's much less discriminating. Today's attack… had far too many casualties." Min rubbed his tired eyes. "It worries me. His mental state isn't stable. With a gamer… that's… When he doesn't achieve his objective in the ways he's planned, he might very well move on to target civilians and— What are you doing?"

Jae only just didn't roll his eyes. He would have thought that it was obvious what he'd been doing. Distracted by Changmin and the memory of that angry, anxious kiss, he'd been listening with only half an ear, while the rest of his mind had been strategising. While Changmin talked, and outlined, and reasoned, Jae slid closer and closer on the sofa, until he had the intelligence specialist trapped against the arm of the couch, close enough to touch and kiss.

Was it a testament to Jaejoong's stealth skills or the level of Changmin's absorption in their problem that Jaejoong's strategy had succeeded? And did it really matter?

Changmin's eyes widened when Jaejoong cupped his face. Heat rushed under his skin, painting the high cheekbones a colour Jaejoong was desperate to taste. A tiny gasp opened the full lips and Jae bent to accept the invitation.

Without the sear of anger, Changmin tasted of heat and sweetness, a gentle spice that Jaejoong knew he could grow addicted to. He slid his hand around to the back of Changmin's neck, delighted by the soft skin he found and the tiny growl the drew from the back of Changmin's throat.

Min's surprise didn't last. Jaejoong felt hands settle on his hips, felt Changmin's lips open wider and passion heated the air around them until Jae moaned his appreciation at the flood of sensations. His body was starved for touch that promised pleasure and not pain, hungered for the feeling of warm, soft skin against his.

He let Changmin control their kiss and switched his attention to the younger man's clothes. Just like his own they were dusty, spattered with blood and specks of extinguisher foam and mud. They needed to come off. Now.

Changmin didn't argue.

The kiss turned hotter, hungrier and Jaejoong grew lightheaded from lack of air. He didn't draw away, though. Air was a secondary consideration when compared to the lure of bare skin.

Changmin's mouth slipped to his throat and Jae gasped in oxygen and redoubled his efforts to remove Changmin's clothes. His hands worked from memory, undoing buttons and buckles and yanking fabric from waistbands. It left his eyes free to feast on the graceful arc of Changmin's neck, the delicate line of an ear and… something shiny.

Dog tags weren't shiny. Jaejoong dismissed those, focussed instead of the object that caught the light with every single one of Changmin's rapid breaths.

"What the fuck!"

The sharp push sent them sliding on the leather, sent Jaejoong almost backwards off the couch. He stared in shock at the ginko leaf charm that nestled in the hollow of Changmin's throat. One that looked identical to the one he had picked up from a roof not too many days ago.

Connecting the dots was easy.

And painful.

"You fucking son of a bitch!" Jaejoong was ready to commit murder. "When were you going to tell me? When were you going to tell anyone?" He stood over Changmin, fists clenched, and watched the lust haze slowly clear from the man's expressive eyes. His body thrummed with need, and burned with betrayal, and before he could do anything he'd regret later… beat Changmin to a pulp or grab him and fuck him into the couch without so much as a by your leave… he backed away.

***

The sound of the door slamming behind Jaejoong cut through Changmin like a knife. It pierced the fog of lust and arousal and left him shivering and empty. Jaejoong had felt so good, so right against him that for just a tiny moment he'd allowed himself to hope for something he'd not realised he missed. Now that tiny moment was gone, lost in anger once more. Through his fault this time.

He didn't think that Jaejoong would give him the time to hear his explanation. That anyone would give him a chance to fix his error in judgement. Despite his best intentions he'd screwed up. And in the process had stamped out the first tiny sparks of something warm and enticing he had found himself craving with an intensity that surprised him. Changmin reached for his discarded shirt and made himself as presentable as possible, given the state he was in.

He'd screwed up. He'd better face the consequences. He wasn't likely to ever see Jaejoong again and he accepted that. The thought hurt, but a solitary tear leaving a silver track down his cheek was the only sign of how much.


	10. Confession

Changmin didn't linger in Jaejoong's quarters after Jaejoong stormed out. Without the sniper and the heat between them, the room seemed cold, the silence oppressive. Angry as he'd been, the major wouldn't come back anytime soon. Most likely he'd head to the gym to blow off steam, or the hospital to seek solace in Rin's company.

It didn't matter either way. Changmin knew he faced a courts-martial for what he'd done. Had known it since he'd recognised the charm as his brother's and kept silent. He couldn't talk his way out of that, nor did he want to. It simply wasn't the way he worked. So Changmin knew he would most likely be gone from the base as soon as he'd reported his infraction to Colonel Seong. Jaejoong had been a brief, glorious complication in his orderly, successful life. It was his own damn fault that he'd never get the chance to explore it further. Just as it was his fault that everything he'd worked for was unravelling as he watched.

He found the colonel in his office, still wearing his helmet and looking dirty and smoke-blackened like the rest of them. He had clearly just returned from the attack site.

"Come in, come in," the man waved, removing the protective headgear and dropping it on the edge of his desk. "Sit. Talk."

"Thank you, sir." Changmin didn't sit. He stood at attention, gut clenching with nerves. There was no easy way to say this, no way that would make it sound less than the betrayal it so obviously was. So in the end, he simply ploughed on. "Sir, I formally request to be removed from the investigation."

"Captain Shim, really?" The deep voice wasn't nearly as scathing as the last time they'd spoken and Changmin wondered what he looked liked to deserve such consideration. "I thought we've had this discussion."

"With all due respect, sir, I have information that you are not aware of." Changmin couldn't look into the man's eyes. He focused on the corner of a picture that adorned the colonel's desk instead. "The shooter is… my elder brother, Ran Joon. I have… been aware of that fact… for several days and… have concealed the knowledge from Major Kim and everyone else associated with the investigation. Though I swear that I have made all efforts to find Ran Joon."

In his haste to confess his infraction, Changmin missed that he hadn't closed the door to the colonel's office. Now, focussed on his words, on explaining his actions, on keeping his eyes down and his back straight he didn't notice the door swinging open. Neither did he notice when Major Kim appeared in the doorway, silent and watchful as the sniper ace he was.

***

Captain Shim Changmin was the last person Jaejoong had expected to see in the colonel's office. If he'd given the matter any thought, he'd have said the man was still in his quarters, lust crazed and shell-shocked. Maybe feeling guilty.

He'd never bet money on Changmin beating him to Colonel Seong's office. Just as he wouldn't have bet a single Won that Changmin would just go and confess what he'd done, unvarnished and unadorned. And yet, he'd thought plenty of times over the last few days that Changmin was nothing like his brother… he'd even told Changmin so when the man was heartsick and out of it…so why was he surprised?

"Sit the fuck down, Captain," the colonel snarled as Jaejoong stepped close to the open door and silently pushed the gap wide enough to slip through. "I want the whole story, not just what you deem suitable for my ears. You hear me? You have one of the most impressive service records I've ever seen. I'm not gonna call a courts-martial without a good reason. Now explain yourself."

Changmin's back didn't touch the chair. He looked straight ahead, but from the way he held his head, Jaejoong guessed that he was staring into air, unseeing. Unless the colonel found a question that rattled his cage, Changmin wouldn't talk. Not one word. Not now. And not even when his career lay in shattered shards around him.

And how different from his brother that made him.

Jaejoong slipped further into the room, aware that the colonel had seen him. He dipped his head in apology, signed for permission to listen in and was cheered by the colonel's brief nod. True to his words, Colonel Seong had no intention to drag Changmin before a tribunal.

Neither had Jaejoong.

Yes, seeing the charm and realising what it meant had been a shock. He'd been pissed that Changmin hadn't trusted him enough to tell him. But he'd been barely out of his quarters when he'd realised how stupid a thought that was. He remembered the photos on Changmin's coffee table, the adoration in the younger Min's eyes, the way he'd looked up to his brother. He couldn't go and report Ran Joon any more than Jaejoong could fly.

"Captain, I do understand the importance of family," Colonel Seong was saying when Jaejoong surfaced from his reverie and paid attention. "And your loyalty does you credit. I'm not saying that you're blameless. You're clearly in breach of protocol. But by your own admission Ran Joon left the country. You've not seen him in three years. Given his career choice and yours, you can only have seen him occasionally before then. What is it that makes you throw away your career for the man, Captain Shim? Why is he so important to you?"

"Because he's the only one who's ever been there for me," Changmin answered tonelessly, as if the words had been dragged from him by force. They broke the dam he'd built inside of himself, the tight control he'd placed on his emotions. And when the colonel asked questions, Changmin answered.

"He should have resented me," Min said, once he'd explained that he'd been adopted when his mother found that she couldn't have any more children after Ran Joon. "My father did. And neither of my parents understood me. Ran Joon should have resented me, but he never did. He looked out for me, as if he really was my older brother. There are so many things I've done because of him. My parents never wanted me to join the army, and I didn't think twice about it. I've never seen the Ran Joon Rin told me about, the one you all seem to know. I just remember how broken he was when he left the country."

Jaejoong had to strain his ears to hear the story, almost as much as the words tugged on his heart.

"I wasn't aware he had returned from the US," Changmin concluded finally. "I had a suspicion that he was the shooter when Jaejoong found the charm on the roof. I couldn't speak of my suspicions, but I made every effort to find him. That I swear."

"Captain Shim did more than make every effort to find his brother, sir," Jaejoong cut in smoothly, stepping forward. "He has come up with a plan to lure the shooter away from the base and take him down somewhere he can't hurt any bystanders."

Changmin raised his head, whether at Jaejoong's voice or at that unexpected piece of news, Jaejoong couldn't have said. A quick touch of Jaejoong's hand kept him silent.

"You are happy to continue working with Captain Shim on this case, Major? Despite the information he has just revealed?"

"Yes, sir."

Jaejoong didn't think that Changmin saw the quick wink the colonel sent him. Despite the high levels of respect between them, there was little formality in their interaction. Jaejoong followed military protocol in the presence of strangers, or in this case to save Changmin's pride.

"Fine. Captain Shim, I regard your decision to withhold information as a severe error in judgement. Given that the suspect may be your elder brother, this slip is understandable, though I hope I can count on you not to repeat such a mistake. Family is what holds us together, and it is hard to believe the worst of those closest to us, but your comrades here on the base are your family too… we are family forged in blood and sweat and we deserve the same consideration than the family you're born to. Is that understood?"

Changmin stood as if he had aged fifteen years in the intervening fifteen minutes. The glance he threw at Jaejoong was indecipherable, but before Jae could panic or worry that the stubborn captain might say something Colonel Seong would be unable to ignore or forgive, Changmin straightened and faced the man who had given him a second chance.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now get out of my office and get cleaned up. You're a disgrace. Both of you!"


	11. Plans and Pleasure

"It's open!" Jaejoong called in the direction of the door in answer to a hesitant knock. They'd separated at the front of the building for showers and a change of clothes and Changmin had looked anywhere but at Jaejoong. Not even when Jae told him to come to his quarters once he'd changed. He'd simply nodded and turned away.

The trek back from Colonel Seong's office had been made in silence and Min's frown had been fierce enough to stop any words Jae might have wanted to say. He couldn't quite fathom what bothered the younger man — thoughts of Ran Joon, worries that the colonel had been to lenient or resentment that Jae had heard Changmin's confession were all possible options — but since none of these were topics he was comfortably discussing out in the open, Jaejoong had been happy to wait.

"You cook?" Changmin stood in the entryway to Jaejoong's kitchen, scowl still firmly in place, but sniffing carefully at the fragrant steam spiralling up from the pot on the stove.

"When I have time," Jae replied easily. "Sit." He indicated the breakfast bar and slid a beer towards Min's place. "I thought we both could do with something soothing while we make plans." He fully expected Changmin to argue, decline the offer of food… anything but what he actually did: sit down and drain the beer almost in one long swallow. Jaejoong blinked at the display, slid another dewy bottle towards Min and returned to chopping green onions for the simmering soup.

Major Kim Jaejoong was a sniper of the elite solo patrol. He was someone who spent weeks without seeing or speaking to another person. He could lie in wait for days until he had the perfect shot. He had more patience in his little finger than Changmin could acquire if he lived to be a thousand. He would outlast the stubborn younger man. There was no doubt about it.

It took over two hours.

By then, Jaejoong had served jiggae, chestnut rice and fried chicken. They'd eaten and demolished more of Jaejoong's beer store than was maybe truly wise. The heavy atmosphere between them lightened by degrees, finally lifting completely once they'd washed the dishes and tidied the kitchen.

"Why did you lie for me?" Changmin wanted to know and Jae didn't have to be a genius to hear the anger and confusion in his voice. "Why are you covering my six for something that's entirely my fault?"

"The way you lied for your brother? The way you covered for something that's entirely his fault?"

"He's my brother," Changmin grated as if that explained everything.

And maybe it did. The colonel seemed to think so and Jaejoong trusted Colonel Seong. So he had no compunction to make use of the man's argument. "In a way, you're just as much a brother to me as Ran Joon is to you. None of us are bound by blood ties. He's your brother because he conducted himself as such."

"And I'm your brother because I didn't?"

"Don't be an idiot. You're my brother because I value loyalty when I see it. Even if it's directed at someone who, in my opinion, doesn't deserve it." Changmin's eyes were wide, his lush mouth pulled down at the corners in acute disbelief. "Smart as you are, this should be easy for you, Shim. None of what I know about Ran Joon puts a scratch on the history you share with him. You can't erase what you remember and replace it with facts that I consider true any more than I can. Given your experience with him, you trust him. Given mine, I don't. That has nothing to do with how we regard each other or work together."

This time, Changmin couldn't hold back a rude noise and Jaejoong grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, okay, that went a little too far. It shouldn't interfere with how we work together, but I know it has. For that, I apologise. And I want to start over."

"Why?"

"Because you're worth it, you stupid piece of— " Jaejoong forcefully turned the younger man around and shoved him into the direction of the sofa. "Go. Before I say something I shouldn't. I'll bring tea."

"And I didn't lie for you," he said a few minutes later as he set out cups and a teapot on the low table. "You were starting to outline a plan to catch Ran Joon. You said he would need to be baited in a way he didn't expect and be led into a trap. No?"

"I didn't think you'd listened to a word I'd said," Changmin muttered, ears suspiciously red.

"Now who's making assumptions and jumping to conclusions? Whether it's Ran Joon or not, I want to stop the attacks on the base as much as you do. So tell me what you were thinking of. I'll tell you my ideas and we'll work out a plan we can take back to the colonel."

***

"And how do we make sure he sees us leaving the base?" Changmin queried, voice hoarse. They'd argued the matter to death. The coffee table was covered in sketches and equipment lists with many of the items scratched out only to be added back and removed once more. But between Min's profile and strategies and Jaejoong's tactical genius they had devised a plan. A dangerous plan with many loops and contingencies, but a plan. A solid one. When he and Jaejoong laid their animosity aside and focussed on a common goal, they meshed almost without friction like cogs in a complicated set of gears. Even when their opinions differed.

"Let's think about that in the morning," Jaejoong yawned. "My brain's fried."

"Not surprising. It's almost one o'clock." Changmin stood and stretched.

"Stay here?" Jaejoong's voice was an intriguing mix of hesitant and sultry. "I'm sorry I overreacted when I saw the pendant earlier. I'm sorry I ruined the mood. There's no excuse for interrupting a kiss that good."

Jaejoong was right. It had been a damned good kiss. The fallout of his omission and Jaejoong's reaction hadn't done much to kill Changmin's motor. Neither had confessing the whole to Colonel Seong and having Jaejoong listening in. If he concentrated, he could remember Jaejoong's taste on his tongue, could feel defined muscles move under his fingertips. He'd been acutely aware of Jaejoong all evening. He grew painfully hard every time he caught a waft of Jaejoong's cologne, especially knowing it for something the man wore to remind himself that he was home.

Changmin wanted to be the one reminding Jaejoong that he was no longer camped out in the woods, watching every step he took and breath he drew. He wanted nothing more than get his hands on that sleek, pale-skinned body and explore each tattoo in great detail. He just couldn't understand how Jae could even want to stay in the same room with him after what he'd done.

His thoughts must have shown, since Jae dug himself out of the couch cushions and stepped very close to him.

"You had the courage to take responsibility for your actions. Without hours of internal debate, too. I find that sexy as hell. I should have just asked, rather than make assumptions and jump to conclusions based on those. Let me make it up to you?"

"If anyone has any making up to do it's me." Changmin could barely get the words out.

"That works out nicely then, no?"

Jaejoong slid flat palms up his chest and a shiver raced through Changmin at the touch. He couldn't take his eyes from the sniper's lush lips, transfixed by the tip of pink tongue snaking out to wet them. When the tongue tip disappeared, Changmin went after it. Two pairs of lips brushed, almost shyly, before Changmin sucked Jaejoong's lower lip between his and nibbled until a rough groan bubbled from Jaejoong's throat and his hands tightened convulsively on Changmin's collar.

"Don't fucking tease!"

"Why not?"

"Because I fucking hate it!"

"No, you don't." Suddenly sure of his path, Changmin swung them around. He pinned Jaejoong's back to the wall and shoved his thigh between Jae's legs. "You don't hate this at all. You're hard and too damn desperate, but hate what I'm doing? No way." He took Jaejoong's mouth then, hard and hungry and devouring. His hips rolled in a slow rhythm, driving the other man insane. Profiling skills had their uses. As much as spending hours imagining how desperate Jae had to feel, how starved for contact after nobody had touched him for a month.

Pinning the sniper to a wall and almost eating him alive had sounded like a great idea.

Seeing that he'd been right was even better.

And the small desperate sounds that bubbled their way out of Jaejoong's throat were the most amazing thing he'd ever heard.

He pulled back when the muscular body under his arched away from the wall in search of that final bit of friction.

"Bedroom. Now," he growled, giving Jaejoong just enough space to slide out from under Changmin's body.

The sniper didn't argue. He just grabbed a fistful of Changmin's shirt on the way past and pulled him along until they stood beside Jaejoong's immaculately made bed.

"Strip," Changmin ordered, stepping close to help. "I can't wait to see all this ink."

Jaejoong smirked and tilted his head up. "Just the ink?"

Changmin's hands became more demanding, ripping at fabric and tearing at Jaejoong's belt until the sniper stood like a pale statue in a puddle of dark fabric, annoying smirk still in place.

Changmin kissed it right off his face. He relished the play of taut muscles under his hands, waited for Jaejoong's breath to go ragged before he stepped back and shoved the other man onto the sheets. "On your back," he ordered and followed the sniper. "Hands over your head and keep them there."

The contrast of jungle BDUs against pale skin and dark ink was amazing. As was the man splayed out for their pleasure. Changmin stretched out over the sniper and lost himself in exploration, tasting pale skin and ink just as he'd imagined doing since the first time he'd caught a glimpse of the design through the filmy veil of a threadbare shirt.

Jaejoong wasn't quiet and Changmin used the sighs, ragged breaths and deep moans like a set of directions to Jae's pleasure. Small bites to Jae's ears almost reduced the man to begging, teeth on collarbones and a tongue on the hollow of Jae's throat made him arch off the bed, hips seeking friction. Bites and suction on his nipples brought Jae's voice to a pitch so low, it crawled through Changmin's body like black fire.

"Min, stop. Too close."

"Already? Well, you've reason." Changmin stopped his slow rocking and pressed their hips firmly together. "Fancy a bet? How many times, do you think, can I make you come before sunrise?" He didn't give the sniper a chance to reply. He simply leaned down and took the man's mouth, resuming his slow, steady rocking at the same time.

Jaejoong clung to the kiss. His fingers clenched on the metal bars of the headboard, the knuckles white. His breathing sped and under his palm Changmin could feel Jae's heart racing. Never letting go of the kiss, Changmin dragged blunt nails down Jaejoong's chest.

And that was all it took.

Changmin pulled back far enough that his eyes wouldn't cross and watched Jae pant out his release between them. He'd have to borrow a pair of Jae's BDUs to return to his quarters, but the thought barely had time to register before Jae opened lust-blackened eyes and Changmin let himself fall into the gaze, picking up right where he'd left off.

An hour before sunrise, Changmin conceded that Jaejoong was the most pleasurable challenge he'd ever set himself. Enough wasn't a word in Jae's dictionary, whatever sensual torture Changmin came up with. Jaejoong craved skin and relished touch and Changmin was happy to give him what he craved, fulfil every demand Jaejoong made of him.

And the sniper was damned demanding when it came to sharing pleasure.

Pressed into the rumpled sheets, glistening lips bitten red and eyes blown midnight dark with lust, the man writhing under him was glorious in his ecstasy. Changmin wanted nothing more than to join him, but his mind wouldn't let him. He was so unbelievably close, yet he hung on the edge of his release, unable to let go.

Until Jaejoong intervened.

Even blissed out after hours of sex and wracked by the force of his final release, the sniper read him like a book. He gripped Changmin's hips and slowed the frantic thrusts. Leaning up, his palms enveloped Changmin's ass and long fingers dove into the crack.

Changmin froze under a touch he'd never allowed anyone. No words would come, but his body knew better than his mind what he needed. A single fingertip breached him amid the long, slow thrusts that Jae pulled him into and just like that Changmin went flying.

Violent shudders ripped through him and he wasn't any quieter than Jaejoong had been. Wave after wave wracked his frame until he thought he'd never surface from the storm. But Jaejoong was with him for the ride. A long, deep kiss pulled him from the maelstrom, soft slow kisses helped him through the shallows and when he finally opened his eyes it was to a smile so bright it lit the room.

"We make a damned good team, don't you think?"

"I don't think. Not for a while," Changmin's breathing hitched and he didn't care. "I don't think I can move, either."

"You mean you aren't up for going again?" Jaejoong's pout could have brought a horde of attacking barbarians to a dead stop. "Kids these days…. no stamina…"


	12. Reasonable Doubt

"You're saying he's manipulating our response." Colonel Seong towered over the two men seated at the low table by the window. His voice was clipped. Anger radiated from the set of his broad shoulders, though he was considerate enough to stop Jaejoong and Changmin before they could rise when he did. "Four men in the morgue. Eleven more in hospital. All to appease a…"

"Gamer, sir," Changmin cut in, chopsticks halfway to his mouth. He'd woken in Jaejoong's bed, wrapped around the sleeping sniper—a first in more ways than one—and had yet to regain his customary equilibrium. Finding an extensive breakfast laid in the colonel's office when he and Jaejoong had gone to report wasn't helping with that. Neither was Jaejoong's tense silence.

The man had woken smiling, but had lost the smile and acquired a frown dark enough for a serious weather warning in the time it took Changmin to get showered and dressed. Changmin had asked for the reason, but hadn't gotten more than a brief, silent shrug in response. Not knowing whether Jaejoong regretted the time they'd spent together, or whether something had happened that he wasn't yet aware of kept him off balance. Having to explain and justify their plan in minute detail to a man who grew angrier by the moment only added to his stress level.

"Ran Joon has always displayed gamer tendencies, sir. I just didn't realise until recently how strong they really were. He blames Jaejoong for his dishonourable discharge. That I know for a fact. And now he seems to want revenge. I'd say that he'll take any chance he can find to manipulate our response."

"Including killing innocent bystanders?"

"That's no longer in question, sir," Changmin nodded. "He's already done it. I believe he will continue to escalate his provocation until we provide the response he desires."

"And you think he wants to pit himself against Jaejoong."

"Yes, sir."

"I'd like to believe otherwise," the colonel sighed, "but Dr. Mae agrees with you."

"I don't."

"What?" Changmin stared across the table at Jaejoong, forcefully reminding himself to close his mouth. The food on the sniper's plate was almost untouched, though the coffee pot by his elbow was three quarters empty. "We discussed this last night! We both agreed that—"

"I know." Jaejoong waved the comment aside. "But the more I think about it, the less sense it makes."

"Why not? We have pretty damning evidence. The charm is one of a kind. Well… two, but you get my meaning."

"I know, but…," Jae topped up his mug with more coffee as if marinating his brain in caffeine would help him explain his misgivings. "Ran Joon isn't that sloppy. He would never have made it through sniper school if he were."

"Huh?"

"So that's what's bothering you," Colonel Seong said, a deeply satisfied tone in his voice. He resumed his seat and reached for his own mug of coffee. "Rin's been bending my ear about it, too."

Changmin's mind skittered over all the evidence in search of anything that could be classed as sloppy and not finding anything. "Explain," he demanded.

"He missed five out of seven shots. Maybe even six. Ran Joon is better than that. Much better. He doesn't miss." The confused frown on Changmin's face clearly wasn't lost on Jaejoong, because he continued without Min having to prod him. "The shot that killed Jong Ki was perfect. Then he took Min Chul over the right eye. Rin is still alive and the shot he fired next hit the wall beside the cafeteria door. I'm not sure if the gas tanks were his objective, but the two shots he fired at us didn't even come close. All from a position with excellent sight lines, in calm weather and good visibility. Without the charm we found on the roof I wouldn't even entertain the idea what we're dealing with a trained sniper, let alone Ran Joon."

"That's exactly how Rin reasoned it last night," Colonel Seong agreed. "Did you speak to him?"

"Not about this," Jaejoong admitted. "I was too focussed on laying hands on the shooter. I started to think about it last night, when Changmin pointed out that, based on his profile, he would expect us to stake out his nest. And the pieces just didn't fit properly."

"So you want to revise your plan?"

"No," Jae's eyes flicked up to Changmin's, considering and a tad hesitant, before he shook his head. "I believe the plan is sound even if the shooter isn't Ran Joon."

"He wouldn't have a grudge against you, then," Changmin reminded. He wanted to argue, but he was convinced that Jaejoong was keeping back half the facts, so he kept his peace.

"That we know of," Jaejoong shot back. "I've probably pissed off a lot of people over the years. Whoever he is, he wants us out in the open and I'm giving him that."

"It's a risky strategy," Colonel Seong decided, eyes on the map.

"Given our casualty situation, I think the risk is justified. We need to draw the shooter out or this whole mess will only get messier."

"True. Jae, get onto mission logistics. Captain, I want you to background check everything back to the Flood if you have to. Make sure you've covered every angle and missed nothing. Rin will help with anything either of you need. Do me a favour and keep him busy. Doc tells me if I don't remove him from the hospital, he'll toss him in the brig. I want you ready to roll day after tomorrow at the latest."

Changmin heard the dismissal and stood, following Jaejoong from the room. Even spilling what bothered him hadn't lightened Jaejoong's dark mood. His steps dragged in a way that Changmin hadn't seen before, and even when the men they passed shouted greetings Jae barely responded. Changmin wondered whether he should return to his quarters for his notes, see how much of their office had survived the attack or simply follow where Jaejoong led. He'd never been one for much second-guessing, so after a while he simply asked.

"Did you just say that about Ran Joon to make me feel better?"

Jae didn't look up, but he shook his head. "What would be the point? It'd be hollow comfort. I don't deal in that. Ever."

"Okay. So you don't believe the shooter is Ran Joon. But you still want to offer yourself as bait?"

"Give me a good reason it shouldn't be me."

"I'm coming with you," Changmin reminded.

"If it's not Ran Joon, there's no need."

Changmin almost smiled. He could play that game. Probably better than Jaejoong. "Prove to me that it's not Ran Joon and I'll stay here."

Jaejoong stopped walking and finally faced Changmin. "You said yourself that he's a gamer. It could be days before he comes close enough for me to take him down. Do you know that most people can't handle solitude?"

"So what? Being a loner is a personality trait?"

"Something like that. And you don't have it."

"I like being alone."

"You like being alone on your terms. That's different. You seek out solitude for a time and when you've met that need, you'll go back to interacting with people. What I do is different and you'd struggle."

"I've been trained as well as you have."

"I wasn't implying that you were incapable, Min. That's not what this is about. It's about mind games and snipers play them more than anyone else. You think of being a sniper as a skill when it's first and foremost a mindset. You have the skill to track and hide and take down an enemy, but you're a soldier first."

"And you're not?"

"I was a sniper first, then I became a soldier. And if the shooter wants to face me alone — whether it's Ran Joon or not — then he'll track me when I leave here. I'll take him somewhere out of the way and let him take me down."

"Pretend to let him take you down."

"Yes," Jaejoong agreed. "Pretend."

There was darkness in his eyes as he said it, a darkness Changmin had seen too often in his career not to recognise. "You don't think you can do that. You don't think it will work that way."

Jaejoong didn't deny it and Changmin's mind started to race. This would be a battle between titans. Between two foes who shared both training and mindset. Changmin didn't think that fatalism was part of Jae's makeup. But the darkness in Jaejoong's eyes made him wonder if simply knowing Changmin put the sniper at a disadvantage. Would he go out of his way to save Ran Joon's life? Even if it made his job harder? Or more dangerous?

Maybe… maybe it was time to load the dice a little in their favour. Make sure that Ran Joon felt the disadvantage just as much. He crossed his arms over his chest and kept his eyes on Jaejoong just long enough to see the hint of a blush steal into the man's cheeks.

"You're afraid you can't keep your hands off me, that it?"

"What? No! That's—"

"You're a crap liar, Kim. I might not be a sniper, but you're no spy. There are reasons you don't want me out there with you. And I can think of three."

"Three?" Jaejoong's eyes widened and as Changmin smirked they darkened with something that might have been lust.

"Maybe four, if that tough cookie act of yours is just that." Changmin's grin got out of control. He leaned down a little until his words were no more than a hot breath curling over Jaejoong's ear. "What if we give him a bit more incentive? Just… knock him a smidgen off his balance."

The wave of shivers that ran over Jaejoong's frame was lovely to watch. It didn't last long though. Jaejoong's gaze sharpened and grew feral as he focused on the smile that lifted the corners of Changmin's mouth. "And what, exactly, did you have in mind?"


	13. Desired Outcomes

"Can you get any more fucking obnoxious?" The venom in Changmin's voice could have poisoned half the wood, but Jaejoong only stretched suggestively and smirked.

"I don't know. Can I?"

They hadn't needed the forty-eight hours Colonel Seong had given them to prepare. They'd been ready in just over twenty-four.

Twenty-four hours spent bent over large-scale maps trying to find an area suited for their purpose: somewhere without a civilian population, not too close to the border that too much activity would attract attention, and close enough to the base to entice the sniper away from his perch.

Twenty-four hours filled with requisitions, with choosing the three men that would accompany them, with briefings and preparations, with checking and re-checking facts.

Twenty-four hours filled with too much coffee, too much tension and too few chances to touch.

Jaejoong hadn't protested the amendments to their plan that Changmin had proposed, though his sardonic grin hadn't shifted all day. And now he was driving Changmin insane.

When Changmin had suggested that Jaejoong might play the part of a bossy ass who got into constant fights with Changmin, he'd had no idea what he'd unleashed. Jaejoong had taken to the role with a vengeance, strutting, swaggering and sounding as if he meant ever word and every insult.

The other three men in their little troop - backup and props for Changmin's plan - found the sniper's behaviour hilarious. Changmin, bearing the brunt of Jaejoong's act, found it irritating.

Because in all his careful planning there was one thing he'd not accounted for: the simple fact that he might struggle to keep his hands off Kim Jaejoong.

The need to be close, to touch was like an itch in Changmin's brain that slowly spread through his whole body, leaving him strung out tight and without the patience and focus he was known for. The night he'd spent with Jaejoong had been more than Changmin had ever had with anyone. Much, much more than he'd ever allowed himself before. And yet, not nearly enough.

And while they worked to take down the shooter that threatened the base, while they prepared and planned and argued, images of Jaejoong stretched out on his bed invaded Changmin's mind and sapped his concentration. So much so, that Jaejoong had finally called him on it.

Much to Changmin's embarrassment.

"You want me to take your virgin ass out there?"

Changmin had felt the wave of heat that started in his groin and rushed upwards until his face glowed and his ears grow hot. The easy way Jaejoong could say these things was deeply annoying. Especially when it had taken Changmin three attempts to tell Jaejoong that he wanted from him what he'd never asked of anyone else.

"Yes," Changmin breathed. He watched Jae's eyes grow dark and for a strangely disconnected moment he no longer cared about the shooter, the base or even his career. He was simply desperate to have Jaejoong's hands all over him. It made no sense, then, when Jaejoong shook his head.

"No way."

"You said you top!"

"I do. But sound carries out there. And you won't be able to keep quiet."

"I will. I swear, I will."

"Yeah?" Jae's smirk came out in full now. "Let's try that, shall we?"

Changmin would swear later that Jaejoong surprising him was the only reason he ended up flat on his back with his belt undone and his fly open without making a single move to stop the sniper. But he couldn't deny that Jaejoong's ministrations had him chewing through his uniform sleeve, desperate to keep silent, in an embarrassingly short amount of time.

And now they faced each other in the woods - adversaries, comrades, lovers, whatever it was they were - intent to play out a game Changmin had devised. A game that none of the other four knew they were even playing. A game that, if Changmin had calculated correctly, would take Jaejoong out of the equation. For long enough to bring him back just in time for the endgame.

There was nobody close enough to hear their words. Jaejoong could have recited the close combat manual for all it mattered, but of course that wasn't how the sniper worked. He'd teased and insulted and teased some more, until Changmin was seething.

"Why the fuck are you doing this?"

"You're supposed to hit me, remember? I didn't think you'd make it look convincing, wound tight as you are." Jae's eyes were bright with mischief. His tongue sneaked out to wet his lips. And then he stepped almost into Changmin's space. His posture changed to a blend of challenge and derision, though his voice stayed soft and suggestive. "Just giving you a little extra incentive. Like I did the night you fucked me, remember? Just… helping you to let go."

Changmin's fist took him square in the chin and sent him flying.

Then their plan played out as devised. Jaejoong's fury was a sight to behold. Rough hands stripped Changmin of his pack and weapons and the handcuffs left a chilly kiss on his wrists. He stood alone beside a tree while the other four conferred, suddenly no longer part of the team, but simply a delinquent waiting to be dealt with.

Then the huddle broke apart, and reformed with Jaejoong standing alone. And as Changmin was being lead away, he had a last glimpse of the sniper rubbing at his aching jaw, that tiny spark of mischief still lighting his eyes.

***

Jaejoong breathed easier as the distance between him and the troop grew larger. He'd been on tenterhooks all morning, waiting for the telltale hiss and thump of a bullet hitting flesh. Dreading the resulting confusion. He knew how impossible it was to spot a sniper that had had time to set up. The only way to stay ahead of that scenario was by staying quiet, invisible and on the move… not something a troop — even a small one — was properly capable of. Not when faced with someone as classy as Ran Joon.

Now that he was by himself he had a better chance of evading a sniper tracking him and finding and following him in return. Though he'd be lying to himself if he pretended that he wasn't missing Changmin. And not just because the attraction between them hadn't had time yet to burn itself out.

He hadn't been entirely truthful. Neither with his CO nor with Changmin. The shooter's apparent sloppiness was bothering him, but everything else he'd said had been a smoke screen. Not once since seeing that ginkgo leaf charm nestled in the hollow of Changmin's throat had he doubted that they were facing Ran Joon. He wasn't doubting it now. He just couldn't work out what game the bastard was playing.

Having Changmin around to bounce ideas off of would have helped.

And yes, he was crap at lying to himself. He didn't just want Changmin around to bounce ideas off of.

The uneasy feeling in the pit of Jae's stomach didn't subside. Neither did his scalp prickle with the knowledge that someone was watching him. The wood lay around him entirely too serene. The way it was when he patrolled the mountains, when he slid through the vegetation like a ghost, disturbing nothing and leaving no trace.

It shouldn't be like this.

Not now, when he was expecting Ran Joon to trail him, hoping to find a way and a place to take him out. His skin should be crawling with prickles, the back of his neck should be tight with tension. Every muscle should be taut as his whole being was on the lookout, watching for a telltale shift of shadows, a sudden flight of birds or a tiny twig moving when it shouldn't. His ears should be on alert to catch the minutest of sounds like the soft brush of cloth against bark, the squish of a soft step in an unseen patch of mud, the muted clink of a buckle.

It shouldn't be like this.

Shouldn't be quiet and peaceful, the air surrounding him without a hint of threat. The tranquillity could only mean one thing. And the moment the thought occurred to Jaejoong, everything that had happened began to make sense.

He wasn't the target.

He'd never _been_ the target.

The one they wanted, whoever _they_ were, was Changmin.

And Ran Joon had been trying to tell him so all along.

The man's unusually clumsy attacks on the base hadn't been real. They'd been meant to attract Jaejoong's attention, alert him to the fact that he'd been called in after the first, the perfect attack. That the shot that had taken out Jong Ki had been the one thing in that whole scenario that mattered. Because it had brought not just Jaejoong to the base — something that would have happened anyway —but Shim Changmin. And if Jaejoong had been less focussed on getting his own damned way, or getting one over on the distracting Captain Shim, he would have seen it immediately. Instead, he'd had his head stuffed up his own backside, using the past as a shield for his inadequacies.

He wasn't usually that stupid.

Jaejoong turned and headed back the way he'd come. His heart pushed him to make haste, to speed through the trees as fast as he could, but his mind urged caution. If Changmin was the one they wanted, and Changmin the one the enemy was following, then they surely didn't bank on a pissed-off sniper joining the party at a time that suited him.

And Jaejoong needed to keep it that way.

He retraced his steps, stealthy and swift, the former bait now the hunter. He picked up the enemy's trail half an hour after passing the small clearing where they'd stopped to play their charade, travelling in the opposite direction. The men trailing Changmin had been careful to leave little sign, but not careful enough for someone who knew the area as well as Jaejoong.

The sniper had no trouble following and no trouble staying out of sight.

Options and consequences aligned in his mind into various courses of actions. Apprehension. Termination. Or even letting the enemy lead him. The decision depended on when and where he made contact with the rest of his team and whether or not they were able to communicate.

The flat pop of a muffled gunshot froze him in his tracks. A wave of heat rushed through him so swiftly that his vision blurred. Half adrenaline, half anger, it made him double his speed, even though he knew he was still too far away to be effective. He spotted movement in the trees in front of him, heard another muffled pop and then a third. When he was finally close enough to use the scope, the sight that greeted him froze his anger into ice cold rage.

Four prone figures, every single one known to him, none of them moving.


	14. Old Foes, New Allies

"They had him gagged. And they wouldn't gag a dead man." Jaejoong had no idea whether he was reassuring Hyun Rin or himself. Only that he needed to say the words out loud, needed to hear them spoken to believe them. It wasn't easy to do in the face of three sudden deaths. Shot at close quarters, the three men who had accompanied Changmin hadn't even had the chance to draw their weapons to defend themselves.

Ever since Jaejoong had seen the four strangers dressed in dark green tactical gear step from concealment, he'd worried that Changmin had suffered the same fate even though he'd only heard three shots on his approach. He had needed all his experience and considerable control to stay hidden. To observe when he wanted to act. To do nothing but watch when he burned to avenge those needless deaths. It wasn't until he saw one of the men lift a gagged and now more thoroughly bound Changmin over his shoulders, that his heart slowed from its frantic stuttering beat to the calm that was usually his so easily.

There was no need to gag a dead man.

Therefore, Changmin was alive.

Alive, but unconscious, judging by the uncoordinated way his head flopped as he was moved him to a jeep concealed in the undergrowth. Seeing the jeep convinced Jaejoong that this wasn't a spur-of-the-moment action, but a well planned operation. The woods surrounding them were tricky to navigate by anything on four wheels. Especially by anyone not familiar with the terrain.

Confident that he'd be able to catch up with the jeep he'd extracted the comms unit from his pack and had hit the code for the bat signal, not at all surprised to find Rin at the other end. The man had a nose for trouble that rivalled his.

"Gone to shit," he'd reported, not bothered with protocol right then. The rage burning in his chest had choked his voice, had turned it rough and ragged. Jaejoong had let it. The fury disguised the fear that was eating him alive. "Changmin's the real target. We split up as planned and they were ambushed. The bastards grabbed Changmin and shot the others. I've tagged the site. I can't—"

"Go." Rin's voice was a soothing murmur in his ear, a steady beacon that Jaejoong's troubled mind could cling to. Rin would ensure that reinforcements would be sent, would ensure, too, that their dead comrades weren't left in the woods like so much carrion, while Jaejoong sped to save the one who was still alive. "Go after Changmin. See if you can find out what's really going on."

Jaejoong was determined to do just that.

***

 

At first, he only saw boots. One pair by his head, another by his feet. He rocked backwards when the jeep hit a bump and found that there was nobody on his other side. Sloppy… unless it was done to entice him into revealing that he was awake.

Changmin was careful to keep his eyes slitted and move with the swaying and bouncing of the jeep. No more.

He'd been mostly aware throughout the ambush and subsequent abduction. The thin kevlar shirt he wore under his uniform had taken the brunt of the tranquilliser dart they'd shot him with. Had given him enough warning - and enough time - to twist the cap off the needle hidden in his sleeve and inject the antidote to the narcotic in the dart. He'd gone down, with his brain screaming at him from the overload of mixed signals.

Sleep. Don't sleep.

Succumb. Stay aware.

Panic. Don't panic.

His heart raced. His muscles shook and shivered. His breath came in heaving gasps he tried to conceal as best he could. His mouth was dry and his tongue felt too big to fit between his lips. Taking the antidote that close to being shot with the drug was uncomfortable as hell, but he'd been through it before and knew what to expect.

He just wished he knew how far away Jaejoong had been when they'd been ambushed.

By his estimation of the sniper's intelligence and skill, Jae should have noticed pretty soon that he wasn't being followed. Once he'd realised that, he should work out that the enemy was trying to get their hands on Changmin. And once he'd realised that…

The unexpectedly high level of attraction and animosity between him and Jaejoong was one of the weak spots in Changmin's plan. Not knowing how Jaejoong really felt about Changmin was another. In the grand scheme of things, neither had influenced his decision-making. Jae would turn around as soon as he knew he wasn't being followed and come look for them. Changmin would bet his life on that.

The question was whether Jae had been close enough to spot the ambush, or whether he was hunting through the woods, following the signs Changmin had been careful to leave. They'd kept up the appearance of Changmin, under guard, being escorted back to base. And as far as he could tell, their ploy had worked.

When the jeep rattled over rocks and roots, Changmin took the chance to wiggle his feet.

Yes, he'd been right.

They'd darted him, but seeing he was already without his gun and cuffed hadn't bothered to search him. He still had the knives in his boots and, since his captors hadn't touched his wrists beyond checking that the cuffs were real, he also had the wire in his sleeve. And right then, he had two guards in front of him and nobody at his back… where his hands were.

Matters were… looking up.

***

 

The jeep carrying a captive Changmin bounced its way towards the border. There was no discernible trail to follow and the thick undergrowth made travel slow and hazardous. While Jaejoong would have struggled to catch up with a jeep that had a head start at any other time, here the terrain gave him a fighting chance.

Jaejoong ran, maintaining as much cover as he could. He kept his eyes on the tracks the heavy-duty tyres churned into the soft soil. Occasionally, when he gained higher ground he caught a hint of engine noise and just knowing that the jeep was still in hearing distance gave him hope.

Whether Changmin was still alive was a different matter.

He clung to the idea that there would have been no need to gag Changmin had he been dead. If the four merely needed to produce a dead body as evidence they wouldn't—

He bit off that thought as he'd done countless times since he'd started following the jeep. This line of enquiry was as pointless as his musings over why someone would want to abduct Changmin in the first place. Seeing he didn't know the first thing about the work Changmin had done before he'd been posted to the base all that speculation was moot.

So he tried to keep his mind quiet as best he could and focussed on catching up with the jeep.

Until the faint throb of engine noise in the air was replaced by the goosebump inducing screech of abused metal.

_What the fuck? Had the jeep just crashed?_

Jae ran faster, ducking around bushes and trees until he was almost close enough to see. Caution slowed his steps then and he crept forward under cover.

The jeep was stationary, wobbling on two wheels like a trainee ballerina en pointe. A quick look through his scope showed him a shredded front tyre that could, maybe, have been caused by the jeep bouncing over one too many limestone outcrops. The possibility was slim, though. Jaejoong knew what damage hollow-point bullets could inflict on rubber. Added to the makeshift barricades he'd encountered along the way - tree trunks heaved into the jeep's path to direct it into more inhospitable terrain - it seemed as if he had an ally out here in the woods. Someone determined to slow down the jeep without damaging its occupants too badly.

And Jaejoong was ready to bet money on the identity of that person.

He slipped back into the trees like the ghost he was, falling back far enough that he couldn't be heard or seen. Instinct told him that his unseen ally would be doing the same, so once he'd reached a safe distance from the stricken jeep, he pulled a small mirror from his belt pocket, assessed the terrain and turned towards a thicker clump of undergrowth that seemed made to offer shelter.

Small wrist movements caught the afternoon sun and the mirror flashed: ...---.-..--- _[SOLO]_

The answer came immediately and just the way Jae had expected. .-..--..----------. _[RAN JOON]_

-.-......--.--.--..-. -.-..-.--.-.....-. _[CHANGMIN CAPTIVE]_ Jaejoong sent back.

-.-.- .-..--.-..--.-.- _[NK EXTRACT]_ Ran Joon informed him and Jaejoong wanted to curse the heavens. When it came down to the wire, he was an anti-personnel weapon. He stopped people. Not tanks. Or helicopters crossing the DMZ.

He didn't have the faintest idea how Changmin had ended up the target of a North Korean abduction attempt or even where Ran Joon had sprung from. And while both points bothered him, neither helped him solve his problems. Rescuing Changmin was the easier one of those. He could have done it just moments ago, could have shot Changmin's abductors before they'd been properly aware he was even close by. But that wouldn't gain him any intelligence. And given the business he was in, intelligence was vital.

As often before he had to tread a fine line between duty and want. He needed to find out who wanted Changmin and why. He needed to find out how Ran Joon, who appeared to play both sides, fitted into the story. And he needed to rescue Changmin before he could be moved out of their reach. It was a hefty ask, but none of the tasks bothered him as much as wondering whether he could accept Ran Joon, a man he detested, as an ally in his quest.

The threat of a North Korean attack left him little choice.

He pondered the terrain up ahead, found the most likely spot for the helicopter to touch down and made a decision.

.-------..----- _[180]_ his mirror flashed, reminding the man who had once been a comrade of a tactic they'd developed together.

Ran Joon didn't disappoint. ...-. _[UNDERSTOOD]_ he signalled back.

Jaejoong breathed a sigh of relief. He stashed the mirror, knowing that across the clearing Ran Joon was doing the same. They'd established a mission objective. They had a target. And like the phantoms they were trained to be, both snipers melted into the background, unseen and unheard.


	15. Triangle

By the time the jeep jolted to a stop, the cuffs circling Changmin's wrists were little more than jewellery. Not that he let on about that. Neither did he advertise the facts that he was wide awake and that his ears were on stalks. Literally. The soundbead he had buried in one ear worked along similar lines as a hearing aid. And while it caught and enhanced the edge of the engine's drone, the scritch of tyres on rock and the bone-jarring screech of the jeep's bodywork on the surrounding vegetation until his head throbbed, it also allowed him to follow the half-grumbled, half-shouted conversations between his captors without having to strain himself.

Thinking him unconscious, the four had talked freely. While Changmin worked to breathe around the gag in his mouth, to keep his body soft and his eyes almost closed, the four had mentioned names. To his great satisfaction, they had confirmed his suspicions, had allowed him to justify the chaos he was about to unleash. All that just before the jeep had had to make its first detour. Changmin had used the confusion between the check-in call and the driver almost running into a ravine to free the short length of wire from its hiding place in his waistband and start to pick the lock on the handcuffs.

When an uncharted rockfall prompted the second detour, Changmin started to pay closer attention.

By the third diversion, he was sure they were being trailed and he was hoping that Jaejoong had caught up with them and was outside, slowing the jeep down to create a chance for Changmin to escape. The check-in call the leader of the four had made had done more than confirm that a highly placed mole was passing information to the North Koreans. Changmin had also learned that the jeep was headed towards the border and a helicopter was on the way to take him across the DMZ and into captivity.

Which he couldn't allow to happen.

He didn't need a vivid imagination to picture his fate should he be taken across the border. His tongue probed at the last molar in his lower jaw, satisfied when he found the tiny catch that would release a cynanide capsule. His last escape route, should everything else fail.

He rarely thought about failure. In his line of work, the stakes were always high and he'd too much yet to do to go quietly. An image of Jaejoong's dark gaze swam through his mind, most likely conjured by the struggle to get enough oxygen into his lungs. Changmin didn't fight it, just accepted the comfort it offered and relaxed as much as he was able. The gaze beckoned and enticed, reminded him of some of those things as yet undone. All while he worked the lock on his cuffs and planned how to get loose once the jeep stopped.

He needed more than a verbal confirmation of his suspicions, which could be easily denied. He needed solid proof, which meant he needed the four men who had ambushed him. Alive.

And the helicopter crew, if he could manage it.

Changmin was determined to manage that.

Jaejoong could pontificate about snipers and patience all he wanted. Just because he could hide in the bushes for hours without moving didn't mean Changmin was impatient. He had spent three years of his life gathering data to prove his suspicions. He'd be damned if he allowed anyone to compromise what he'd wrought.

He was playing with a fire that could consume them all. He could accept that.

Placing Jaejoong's life on the line alongside his bothered him more, but the sniper was fast and smart and skilled in survival. He had a better chance than the men Changmin had watched die over the last three years. And whatever he was about to unleash, Changmin owed it to the nineteen men whose names he carried in his heart to end this now.

Even if his own life was the price. Or a small, bare cell in a jail for all his remaining years.

A thump rocked the jeep to the side. Abused metal screamed and the panels at Changmin's back caved when they hit a tree trunk. The floor dipped and Changmin rolled, convinced that the thump had been a bullet hitting… a tyre, maybe?

The four men with him were suddenly quiet. Watchful. Brushed metal glinted dully in white-knuckled fists. And when Changmin's body stopped sliding and he turned his head, he stared right down the barrel of a gun.

"If I were you, Shim, I wouldn't even think about it."

***

Ran Joon's finger hovered over the trigger of his high-powered sniper rifle. He had his eye to the scope and his teeth ground in frustrated fury as he watched his baby brother, gagged and handcuffed, being dragged over rough terrain by men he despised. He memorised every shove and push, every kick and punch, determined to exact bloody, painful revenge as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

He'd accepted the job thinking he was going up against the solo squad. That idea hadn't bothered him at all. In fact, he'd been almost gleefully grateful for a chance to get one over on the bastard who'd ruined his life. An opportunity to hunt Kim fucking Jaejoong had seemed too good to be true.

Turned out it was.

Ran Joon had no idea how he'd kept his temper when he'd been told who the real target was, when he realised that he'd been played by men he thought understood him. Only the tiny suspicion that those trying to use him for their ends had no idea that Shim Changmin was his younger brother kept his tongue still and his face impassive.

That suspicion had bloomed into conviction as time passed. None of the men he'd been forced to work with would have run their mouths the way they had if they'd been aware they were insulting the only man Ran Joon had ever cared about.

That incompetence would make his revenge, when he came to exact it, all the sweeter.

Meanwhile he'd had a chance to sabotage that fuckup of a mission while watching over Changmin as he was used to do. He'd not seen his brother for almost three years and for the first few days after his arrival he'd soaked up the sight of the younger man. He'd noted the way Changmin carried himself, the easy assurance that he'd not seen before, the hint of swagger in his walk. He'd added muscle to his lean frame and the extra pounds in just the right places made his uniform look like couture. He saw the glances Min attracted from men and women, both, but nothing cheered him as much as the public animosity he showed towards the solo squad's sniper ace.

Now, of course, Min was in the line of fire, captive and threatened with worse, and it was just Ran Joon's luck that the only man around to help him save his brother would be the one man he only wanted to meet in hell.

Ran Joon hissed a curse as one of Changmin's captors rammed an elbow into Changmin's stomach, hard enough to make the younger man curl forward protectively. His trigger finger itched, inching towards the point of retribution, and he closed his eyes and breathed. He couldn't let himself react. Not yet. Not until the helo was down and the men inside it either dead or captive.

He'd prefer dead, but delivering captives might save his life. Not his freedom. Not that. But it might keep him out of the way of the firing squad. Whether it would keep him out of the way of Changmin's wrath was an entirely different question. One he pondered while he lay in wait, patient as the tide, and kept a weather eye on his brother and a finger on the trigger.

***

 _It always pays to know the playground._ Jaejoong's first CO had hammered that into his head and Jaejoong had never forgotten the lesson. Knowing the one place in the area suitable as a landing zone had allowed both him and Ran Joon to get ahead of Changmin and his captors.

They'd not spoken again, but they'd both found well covered, defensible positions on opposite sides of the clearing and settled in to wait. They didn't need to communicate to know how to ground the helo. Or take down Changmin's captors.

Now Jaejoong kept his rifle trained on the two men who had remained with Changmin, trusting Ran Joon to take care of the two who had gone to signal the helicopter sneaking across the border under cover of dusk. Sending a helicopter across the DMZ was an unbelievably audacious move that could trigger immediate reprisals of the ground-to-air variety. And all hell would break loose shortly after that.

It begged the question, really: What did Changmin have or know that made him valuable enough to risk a war?

None of his musings compromised Jaejoong's situational awareness. He didn't miss the moment when Changmin flowed from the ground as silently as mist rising from a river — gag and handcuffs gone — and appeared behind one of the men supposedly guarding him. The knife in his fist was just as silent, but there was nothing hesitant about Changmin's moves. One straight slash across the man's throat ended the threat and Changmin was gone before the body had fully hit the ground. Only to disappear behind the second guard and take him down with a quick chop to the throat.

Slipping into the trees, Changmin threw a brief look around, then flashed the hand signs for _loose_ and _intel_ and Jaejoong couldn't hold back a grin. He left his perch to help Changmin secure the man, only to find that both enemies were still alive.

"We need all of them alive if possible," Changmin said, voice a dry rasp even after he'd emptied most of Jaejoong's canteen of water. He looked rougher than Jaejoong had ever seen him, a fine tremor in his hands and his pupils pinprick small despite the lack of bright light.

"Status?"

"Functional." Changmin waved the attention away. "Bitch of a headache and a few bruises. Nothing else unless I start throwing up. Is that the helo?"

Jaejoong stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, even though the distinctive _thwap-thwap-thwap_ of rotor blades was growing closer. "Don't rush. Why would you throw up? Are you concussed?"

"No. They darted me and I took the antidote moments later. It's… a shit way to do it, but it worked. But that and the damned soundbead…and the jeep rattling around like a bitch…" He swallowed heavily, then breathed deeply through his nose to ward off the nausea.

"I get you. I have peppermint oil. You want?"

"Later. The helo—"

"It's covered."

"What? How?"

"Ran Joon followed you and slowed the jeep down until I could catch up with you."

Changmin's expressive eyes narrowed to slits and the lush mouth that Jaejoong had taken such pleasure tasting became a sharp, angry slash. "Bastard," he hissed. "How could he do this?"

"You don't know that he's done anything," Jaejoong found himself inexplicably defending a man he would have sworn he'd rather punch in the face.

"Yeah, right,"Changmin scoffed bitterly. "He wouldn't be here if he wasn't in it to his neck. I'm gonna kill him. Slowly. With pepper spray and the dullest spoon I can find."

Coupled with Changmin's venomous tone, the image in Jaejoong's mind was vivid enough to give him shivers. "Remind me not to piss you off," he begged.

The sound of the approaching helicopter grew distinct. The familiar  ssssss….thump sounded from the other side of the clearing before Jaejoong could say anything else. Four shots sang out in rapid succession as the helo set down. And for a few heartbeats the dusky woods around them burned as bright and hot as midsummer noon.


	16. Unravelled

Greasy whorls of black smoke roiled through the trees. The death throes of the doomed helo echoed across the clearing as the screech of abused metal met the hiss of severed coolant lines in a last, desperate kiss.

"Fuck! Get off me!"

The yell was loud, a panicked shout that brought both Changmin and Jaejoong's heads whipping around. The answering voice was quieter, the words half-muffled but growing clearer as they strained to listen.

"Try that again and I'll castrate you with your belt buckle, you asshat! — Fucking cut that out!"

A scuffle. The tell-tale wet thud of a fist striking flesh. Another thud, harsher this time, followed by a grunt and the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.

"For that stupid stunt, you get to carry him," said a voice that Changmin hadn't heard in three years, but couldn't ever mistake as anyone else's. The familiar tone sent goosebumps down his spine. Goosebumps and shivers that soon grew into hot anger.

Ran Joon really was here.

And that was just fifteen shades of fucked up.

He stalked towards the sound, not surprised to find the other two of his captors and the helicrew tied up and spitting sparks, with Ran Joon pushing them around.

"Bring them this way," he said gruffly as soon as he was in earshot. "We have the other two."

"Do you have transport?"

Changmin had already turned his back and didn't bother to reply. All of a sudden he felt cold to his marrow in a way he hadn't when he'd been trapped in a jeep, on the way to be handed to the North Koreans. Dread congealed in his stomach like ice when he thought of what could, should or would happen next. Or what might not occur at all.

He had sent one message before he'd left the base with Jaejoong. A message he had written three years ago. A message that had grown longer and longer as the months had passed. Every time he'd come close to sending it, prudence had held him back. Because while his evidence was compelling, it was also circumstantial, deniable. Delivered into the wrong hands, the message was more than just career suicide.

So Changmin had waited and watched and compiled more evidence. And when he couldn't find it in himself to wait and watch any longer he'd carefully set and baited a trap and had made a plan that allowed him to spring it. And then, only then, had he sent his message. And in doing so, Captain Shim Changmin from the Army Intelligence Corps had put his life on the line.

Now all he could do was wait.

And hope.

Distraction was useful at that point and he found it when he joined Jaejoong and their captives and found him squared off with a muddy, stubble-jawed Ran Joon. Both men glared at each other and the air in the clearing crackled with tension.

"If I'd known you get my brother kidnapped, I'd have put a bullet in your forehead, not Jong Ki's."

Jaejoong held him with a level gaze. "You've had your chance," he pointed out. "You chose not to take it."

Changmin pushed between the two without so much as a by-your-leave and wrapped his brother in a tight hug. For a moment or two he clung, memories vivid in his face. Then he stepped back and slugged the man square in the jaw.

"That's for being an ass and throwing in with that lot," he snarled. "I would have bet money that you're not that stupid. But no. You had to come back and prove me wrong."

"Min-ah—" Ran Joon climbed to his feet, one hand wrapped protectively around his aching jaw.

"Shut up! Don't speak to me. For three years I had to watch people die around me. I had to sit tight and keep quiet and it almost killed me! And now I find that you were part of that… I just… Don't. Just… don't."

"Shim!"

The voice, edgy and harsh like gravel hiding a cut-throat razor, spun Changmin around. While he'd confronted first his demons and then Ran Joon, a small, heavily armed troop had entered the clearing. They'd fanned out, forming a half-circle around them. None of them looked in the mood to ask questions first and the butterflies in Changmin's guts turned into bona fide dragons.

A dozen steps away, at the centre of the formation of silent, stone-faced warriors, stood a man he'd only met once before. Even if he could have somehow forgotten the forbidding face and eyes that promised pain, the man's uniform would have reminded him. Heavy with scarlet and gold braid, it stood out like a flash of glitter against the sea of muted woodland camouflage worn by the members of the solo squad and the man's protection detail.

Without conscious thought, Changmin snapped ramrod straight and saluted. "General."

The man's coffee-coloured gaze raked the clearing, took in the smoking ruin that had once been a chopper and the small huddle of restrained prisoners, clearly unimpressed by what he found. "Is that your fucking mess here, Shim? I hope you have a damn good explanation for almost starting a war!"

"I do, sir." The dragons ravaging Changmin's guts were breeding. They grew teeth, then wings and when they encountered the stress of the preceding hours, unwise levels of medication and the relief at finally having spoken and been listened to, they took flight.

Changmin just managed to stagger to the nearest tree and grab the rough bark for support before he started heaving up his guts. He never felt the hands supporting him, never realised that he was being wrapped in blankets to ward off the shivers that wracked his frame or that he was lifted and carried from the clearing to the general's waiting helo.

***

"You planned all this?"

Three days had passed. Changmin had been released from medical after a day of saline drips and having his blood chemistry checked every hour. He'd been fed and hydrated. He'd been ordered to sleep and lectured on the idiocy of indiscriminately mixing his poisons before the doc had declared him fit for duty again. Fit for duty of course meant fit to spend the next day in the general's office answering question after question until late into the night, meant explaining every decision he'd taken in the last three years, meant justifying nineteen deaths.

The ceaseless interrogation had left him so exhausted, he'd barely made it to his quarters once he'd been dismissed. And he'd woken that morning still fully dressed, with even his boots still on, lying diagonally across his bed.

Now he was facing the colonel and Jaejoong across the coffee table in Colonel Seong's office. There were just the three of them. Wanting everything out in the open, Changmin had requested the meeting and the moment the colonel asked he came straight to the point.

"Yes, sir. I did plan the whole," he admitted, grateful that he'd had the chance to unburden his soul. The previous day's interrogation hadn't left a single stone unturned, had left nothing but silence in his mind for the first time in three years. And it finally allowed him the space and patience he needed to explain his actions. "About three years ago I realised that we had a mole. Small things at first, information turning up in odd places, plans that were virtually bulletproof going awry, missions that should have run smoothly being compromised. Individually, each event could be explained, but all together?" He took a sip of his coffee, remembering the confusion that had first alerted him. "The deeper I dug, the more I realised that the mole had to be very highly placed. Some of the information just wasn't that easily available. At first, I tried to gather negative proof, rule out certain high-ranking officers so I could report to them, but…"

"It's a high-risk strategy," Jaejoong said softly.

"That too," Changmin nodded. "But round about the time Ran Joon was discharged, one of our intelligence gathering missions was compromised and after that I just knew who the mole was."

"Then why didn't you report it? If you knew who it was?"

"Knowing who the mole was didn't do me much good. Not when I couldn't prove it without wiggle room. If I couldn't manage that…," Changmin shrugged, "I might as well have eaten my gun right there."

"So you waited?"

"And watched, yes. And collected more and more data. I knew that whatever I did to catch him had to be more than bulletproof. If I left him even a single escape route, I wouldn't be the only one who'd end up dead. And then, eventually, I had an idea."

"You made yourself the target."

"Yes. I dropped hints, left little trails of data where they could be found… generally made myself suspicious until they started to come after me."

"And bringing in Ran Joon?" the colonel's voice was grave as he posed the question and Changmin's neck and ears grew hot under the man's unrelenting gaze.

"Ran Joon was a complication. I knew there'd be someone. I had no idea it would be Ran. Or that he would have his own agenda," Changmin replied, voice bleak. "They'd taken my bait and they panicked. Bringing in Ran took the game to the next level. Ran Joon's dislike of Jaejoong was well known and they decided to make use of him. It's a game, after all. To win, you try to predict the other player's response, manipulate it if you can. The first attack on the base had two possible desired outcomes: It could bring Jaejoong into play, giving Ran Joon what he wanted. Or it could lure me out into the open, making me an easier target. Unfortunately for us, you'd already called Jae when I got here, so we gave them both the things they desired. Which made it difficult to determine who was pulling the strings. Fortunately for us, though, they never knew that Ran is my brother. Or that he would object to me being killed or taken."

"You can't excuse what he's done, captain," Colonel Seong reminded softly.

"I'm not excusing anything, sir. I'm merely explaining it."

"And you're that calm about it."

Changmin flushed a deep crimson. He wasn't calm. Not at all. But shame held him silent and motionless. Shame that he'd not gotten to know his own brother better than he had. Well enough, at any rate, to guess that he'd be the ideal target for the traitor to call on and maybe preempt that. Instead, he'd not even known the true reasons for his discharge from the solo squad. Some intelligence officer he was.

"The attacks on the base and the resultant casualties are the direct results of decisions I've taken and mistakes I've made, sir," he said formally. "I put the base and your squad in the line of fire, when I had hoped that they'd come just after me. I understand that. I asked for this meeting, so I could explain my actions, not to justify them. I take full responsibility for everything I've done."

Jaejoong opened his mouth… and closed it again when Colonel Seong shook his head at him.

"You spent three years and went to all these lengths to expose a mole," the colonel said slowly. "Did you succeed?"

"Yes, sir. But—"

"Who is the mole?"

Changmin closed his eyes and breathed. He'd found it difficult to speak about this the previous day, under the hard stare of the highest ranking officer in the Korean Army. It was no easier now. There was a marked difference between having a suspicion and having sure knowledge. A suspicion could poison your mind. Knowledge could tear your soul to pieces.

"The head of army intelligence," he whispered finally, not surprised to hear the sharp breath Colonel Seong took, nor Jaejoong's low whistle.

For a time after his revelation, the office was silent. So silent that the drill-instructor's voice could be heard from the other side of the courtyard. So silent that a fly buzzing somewhere sounded like the scout of an impending armoured attack.

"You don't do things by halves, do you?" the colonel said, finishing the last of his coffee. "That's not a bad thing. I'd previously considered requesting you be assigned to the solo squad, based purely on your results. Now that I have seen the level of dedication you bring to the job, I'm even more interested in having you join us."

The colonel ignored Changmin's wide-eyed stare, opting instead to communicate silently with Jaejoong. What agreement the two men reached, Changmin couldn't have said, but when the colonel turned back to him, there was a twinkle in his eye.

"I'm not going to ask you to make a decision right now. There's going to be an investigation. All the data you've collected will be analysed. And we have prisoners to interrogate. Obviously, you can't be part of that. I suggest that for the next week, you'll accompany Major Kim on patrol. Get a feeling for how the solo squad operates in the field, so you can make an informed decision the next time I ask you."

Colonel Seong rose and his voice was brisk. "You leave this afternoon. Major Kim will tell you what you need. Dismissed."

***

"Where are we going?" Changmin asked when it dawned on him that he didn't recognise any of their surroundings.

"One of my favourite places," Jae said simply. He shifted the pack on his back a little higher and continued further into the trees. It was day four of their patrol and Changmin had started to feel a healthy respect for the work Jaejoong did on a daily basis. He loved silence and solitude, but as Jaejoong had tried to explain to him previously… liking solitude on his terms didn't prepare him for being in the field by himself.

"Shouldn't we return to base?"

"We will. Tomorrow. Or the day after. Or the day after that."

"Why wait? If we've done what we were sent out to do?"

Jae moved as unexpectedly and explosively as he had the first night out and this time Changmin found himself pinned to a tree. They'd not really touched since the day they left to trap the mole. Jae had been busy assessing all he'd learned, while Changmin's guilt hung between them like sheer fabric. Transparent enough to make out vague shapes, too dense to let desires seep through. After all he'd done he'd not expected to feel Jae's hands on him ever again, so when Jae's thigh pushed between his and Jae's fingers pinched both his nipples in a vice-like grip he couldn't help but arch into the hold and groan.

The fingers eased off then, but the torture simply changed. Instead of the tight grip, Jae ran his thumbnail over the tip of each trapped bud, back and forth until Changmin's gut clenched and heat washed over him in a wave so strong it threatened to choke him.

"Because you offered me your lush ass, Captain Shim," Jaejoong purred in answer to a question Changmin had already forgotten he'd asked. His voice was so low it was more vibration than sound and it played over Changmin's riled nerves like a nail across a chalk board. "Did you think I was passing that up? I am taking you somewhere you can scream as loud as you want and nobody will hear you. And I'll keep you there until you know exactly what it feels like to be fucked into oblivion."

Gods! The images Jae's words raised in Changmin's mind threatened to make him pass out. He could see himself on his knees, naked, with Jaejoong fully dressed behind him. He had an arm curled around Changmin's throat to hold him up and his hips rocked hard and fast as he was burying himself over and over in Changmin's body. He could see himself on his back, long legs wrapped around Jaejoong as the bastard teased him over and over and never let him come… just as he had threatened to do back at the base. He could see himself being taken in any conceivable position and he shuddered at the thought.

"How—" his voice came out rough and he swallowed and licked his dry lips before trying again. "How far is it?"

"An hour, maybe. Bit over," Jae said and then his fingers twisted on Changmin's nipples. "Eager much?"

"I don't think I can fucking walk," Changmin complained. He was so hard it hurt and Jaejoong wasn't letting up on his pleasurable assault. His thigh ground into Changmin's crotch, rubbing the painfully hard bulge. His thumbnails strummed over trapped nipples until Changmin's body thrummed with need. And then he suddenly let go and stepped back, turned around and started walking again.

"What the fuck…? Jaejoong!" Changmin stared wholly perplexed after the sniper.

"Don't dawdle," Jaejoong's voice floated back. "I don't wanna wait all day."


	17. Patrol

Without Jaejoong guiding his steps, he'd never have found the cave. Changmin was sure of that. It wasn't on any map. And it was cleverly hidden behind a waterfall. He'd followed Jaejoong up the side of the falls, curious where the sniper was headed, when Jaejoong had ducked around a rocky spur and had simply disappeared from view.

It had been disconcerting as hell, but surveying their small domain—just smaller than his assigned quarters on the base— mostly dry, out of the wind and dimly lit, he doesn't mind having been made to pay with a moment of panic.

"How did you find this place?"

Jaejoong smiled at the memories and Changmin liked the look. Between their earlier animosity and the later revelations, he hadn't seen the sniper that relaxed and unguarded before. "I was sitting down in the valley one night in winter when I suddenly realised that I couldn't hear the waterfall. It was cold, but not so cold that it would have frozen solid. I've never seen it cold enough for that, though records say it did freeze one year just after the end of the war. So I got curious and came up to check it out." He paused, slipped off his pack and set it into a small niche in the wall, well out of the way of their feet.

"And what did you find?"

"Impatient, like it," Jae huffed and threw him a look that made heat coil deep inside Changmin's guts. "The fall was no more than a trickle. What little water there was didn't completely hide the opening. So I explored, found the cave and also found a way that could be used when the fall is in full flow."

"Why was there no water?"

"There'd been a small landslip, about half an hour up the valley. Couple of big trees had come down along with the rocks and were blocking the river."

"You cleared that?"

"I don't carry explosives just for decoration, you know. I've been taught how to use them, too."

"Ha. Ha," Changmin grumbled. "I was thinking more in terms of international— Fucking hell! Is that a hot spring?"

Right at the back of the cave was a small pool and the water was warm. Not steaming hot, but much much warmer than the water in any of the mountain streams Changmin had used for washing in the last few days. Shaving would be so much easier come tomorrow morning!

"There is a hot spring somewhere in the mountain," Jae confirmed, unrolling sleeping bags and mats. "The water comes down here, but it mixes with the river along the way. Still, it's plenty warm for a dip, even when the river's running full."

"I look forward to that," Changmin sighed. He hadn't thought that out of all amenities he'd crave hot water. And—strangely enough—music. Neither of which was advisable while camping almost within sight of the border.

"How do you feel about a proper dinner?" Jae asked. All of a sudden he stood close enough that Changmin could feel his warmth all down his side. "Something cooked instead of ration bars?"

The air in the cave grew a little thin and Changmin swallowed. "Is that safe?"

"I wouldn't suggest we have barbecue, and I don't carry enough fuel to cook rice, but soup isn't an issue. You game?"

"I'd love it." Changmin managed to say that with a straight face. "Anything I can do?"

"Jump in the pool. I can see you salivating over it. Maybe that will relax you."

"Because relaxed is exactly what you want me to be, right?"

***

Trust Jaejoong to be able to turn instant noodles into a feast with nothing more than a few herbs, chestnuts and mountain vegetables they'd picked along the way. Changmin wanted to lick his bowl and that after he'd had third helpings!

Jaejoong just laughed. "Someone likes my cooking."

The comment, the smile that went with it and Changmin's wayward mind all combined to set his face on fire. It wasn't just Jaejoong's cooking he liked, but he'd be fish food before he admitted that aloud. "Don't tease," he grumbled instead.

"Why not? We have a whole cave and three days to ourselves. I'd planned on so much teasing you have no idea." Jaejoong brandished a small jar of chili paste. "For starters, I'm planning to lick this off your nipples."

"What? No!" Changmin stared in outrage. "Chili paste? Are you nuts?"

"Don't complain about something you haven't tried," Jae shrugged. He dipped a finger into the jar and licked the chili paste off it as dainty as a kitten. When most of it was gone, his licks grew obscene, tongue swirling and plush pout sucking on the digit until Changmin could no longer watch. "Besides," Jae said around the finger in his mouth. "I let you have your way the last time. Now it's my turn."

"But chili paste!"

"C'mere," Jae waved and knotted his fingers into Changmin's undershirt as he came close enough. He pulled him into a kiss that was hot enough to melt Changmin into a puddle on the floor, a mix of fragrant chili paste and the unique honey spice that was Jaejoong.

"See? Not so bad after all. And much more entertaining than the eternal ice cream and melted chocolate."

"But… food? Can't you just fuck me?"

Changmin was ready for the attack this time, for the hot mouth that ravished his, for the hands that went everywhere, enticing and inflaming. He was even ready for being shoved into the wall and held there by a forearm across his throat and an insistent knee between his thighs. That's what he wanted. That right there. And Jaejoong knew it.

"I could probably shove it up your ass right now and you'd take it you're so turned on," Jae gasped when he drew back. "But that's not really what you want for your first time. It's not what I want, either. I want to hear you swear. And I want to hear you scream in pleasure, not pain."

"God damn it, Jaejoong!"

"Yeah?" The sniper nuzzled his face into Changmin's neck and nibbled on the sensitive skin while his hands were busy further south. "Gonna let me go to town on your lush ass?"

Changmin had no breath left to answer. But he managed a nod.

***

Time blurred in their small cave. At some point, the sun set and the space grew gloomy enough for Jae to set a small night light beside the jar of chili paste, bottle of oil and tins of sake that had left Changmin speechless for a few moments.

"In case you needed something to help you get that stick out of your ass," Jae smirked when Changmin had joined up enough brain cells to ask the question.

"I don't have a stick up my ass. I was… distracted," he protested.

"Prove it."

By that point, Changmin would have done almost anything to get Jaejoong's hands on him. The stress he'd been under for far too long was slowly fading, but it left him jittery and feeling almost hollow. The chance to forget for a while was a lure he couldn't resist.

When they'd fucked before, Jaejoong had been the one seeking oblivion with unrivalled focus. Jaejoong as a top was no less focussed, but now his aim was distraction. Flitting from place to place, mixing touches that inflamed with soothing kisses, bringing that damned chili paste into play when Changmin least expected it… he was so damned good at creating distractions that Changmin barely noticed when Jaejoong shoved an oiled finger into him. Right then, he was too busy coming all over his abs and half of Jaejoong's face.

"Damn you look tasty!" Jaejoong declared and even laying there gasping, body buzzing from his release, Changmin felt himself flush.

The finger inside him became two and Jaejoong, who turned out to be perfectly ambidextrous, decided that he wanted to know how Changmin tasted mixed with chili paste.

Changmin was too turned on to complain. He shuddered under Jaejoong's ministrations, demanded kisses, touches, more… and found Jae was perfectly happy to indulge him. More chili paste on his nipples. More of Jaejoong's hot mouth licking and sucking and driving him nuts until he was so close, he was sobbing, begging… and yes… swearing.

Moonlight silvered the light in their cave behind the waterfall by the time Jaejoong finally thought that Changmin was well enough prepared. As Jaejoong had promised, he'd screamed himself hoarse. He thought he'd come at least three times during Jaejoong's relentless assault, but he was no longer sure of anything. He just knew that he needed Jae inside him as he had never needed anything else before.

"Hands and knees, baby," Jaejoong instructed and Changmin scrambled to comply.

The revealing, submissive position forced a blush up his neck and into his cheeks. His arms and legs shook so badly, he struggled to keep himself upright. But he wanted this. Wanted Jae to put his cock where his fingers and tongue had already been, wanted to feel the man so deep inside him he'd never forget.

"Scared?" Jaejoong draped himself over Changmin's naked back, his warmth a ward against the shivers. "Min, are you scared?"

"No," Changmin snarled, wanting the sniper to get on with it. "Yes," he whispered a moment later. It wasn't fear that shivered through him. Not all of it, at least. There was more lust than he'd ever known what to do with. There was so much need it short-circuited his brain. And then, right at the heart of that explosive cocktail was a tiny nugget of fear. Blow jobs, hand jobs, fucking a few guys when he was on leave and far away from the garrison was one thing. Bending over for another officer, one who was superior at that was… something wholly different. His whole career could go up in smoke if he'd misread the sniper.

And it was as if Jaejoong could read his mind. Soft lips teased the spot behind his ear, a tongue sneaked out to touch his lobe and the voice that filled his ears was rough as velvet. "It goes both ways," he whispered. "Trust. I let you have my ass right there on the base. But I didn't want that for your first time. I wanted somewhere safe."

"Don't make it sound as if I'm a total virgin here," Changmin scoffed. He had to act tough or he'd dissolve into mush at Jae's consideration.

"I'm glad you're not a virgin. I just wanted the chance to take my time ravishing your ass and ruining you for other men. It's my favourite pasttime, that. Wrecking long-legged, bambi-eyed intelligence officers."

Again, Jaejoong read his mood. And again he responded the way Changmin needed him to. Jae's hands were soothing, gliding up and down his chest and abdomen… until they suddenly weren't. By now Changmin's nipples were so sensitive even the lightest brush over the tips sent him soaring. And Jaejoong's touch wasn't light. Nor was there anything hesitant about the heavy cock that nudged at Changmin's slicked entrance.

"Let me do the work," Jaejoong instructed, voice strained with the effort to hold still. "I mean it, Min. I want to take you a few more times before we go back, so I want to make sure you're not too sore." He slid his hands to Changmin's hips and used his thumbs to spread his cheeks.

Changmin thought his ears might catch fire at the rush of heat spreading through him. Though why he was embarrassed by Jae looking at his ass, when his fingers and tongue had done far more than look made no sense at all.

"You're gorgeous," Jae groaned, spreading him wider. "You took my breath away the moment I saw you, and now I'm looking at your ass swallowing me and I still can't breathe right. Gods, you're amazing."

Jae's cock slowly sliding inside him felt as strange as it had felt having Jae's fingers up his ass. He felt stretched and full and desperate for Jaejoong to move. And once he'd breathed his way through the initial intrusion, Jaejoong did just that.

Over and over, in long slow thrusts, the drag and slide were simply perfect. So perfect that Changmin lost his mind over the sensations. Sparks shot up his spine and sizzled across his skin every time Jaejoong's cock dragged over his sweet spot. Darkness crowded the edges of his vision and when he closed his eyes the roaring of the waterfall took over his mind. His world narrowed to the tension coiling in his gut, winding tighter and tighter with every thrust, every touch of skin on skin, every groan and gasping breath until the coil suddenly snapped and his world exploded.

Changmin was sure he screamed Jaejoong's name as he came.

Or maybe he whispered it.

***

Changmin had never felt so sated in his life. Or so wrung out. Jae hadn't been joking about wanting to take Min's ass until they had tried everything that could be done with said ass and Jaejoong's cock. He'd taken to waking Changmin with a blowjob and a few fingers, something that usually escalated pretty quickly to a hard, frantic fucking. They cooled off in the pool afterwards and then Jae fed him breakfast. They invariably made love a couple more times during the day, in which ever way Jae felt inclined to try out. They talked, too, but more often than not, Jae was buried balls deep in Changmin's ass and the intelligence specialist didn't want to have it any other way.

Before Jaejoong, he'd had no idea his body was capable of that much pleasure. Or that his voice had such an impressive range. Their final bout of lovemaking had been the most astonishing of all — and after the three days they'd spent doing little else that was saying something.

Jae had started slow, teasing Changmin into arousal and shoving his tongue down Min's throat while he shoved his cock up Changmin's ass. The kiss deteriorated a little over time, but Jae never stopped the slow, deep thrusts that were driving Changmin out of his mind. Even when the younger man came, Jae didn't stop. He kept moving, slow and deep, dragging over every sensitive nerve ending until Changmin didn't know what to do with himself. Screaming didn't help against the wave of overwhelming pleasure, begging didn't help either. He tried to get away, but Jae had him pinned and every time he changed their position—spread Changmin's legs a little wider, or shifted on his knees for a better angle—new waves of sensation spiralled through Changmin like out-of-control lightning.

Flushed and sweating and tossing his head to ward off the madness, Changmin barely noticed the tightness coiling in his gut, the way he clung to Jaejoong and how his fingernails left furrows in the sniper's shoulders and down his back. All he knew was pleasure. And the desperate need to scream out his release.

He couldn't move when it was over. He could barely keep his eyes open for long enough to check whether Jaejoong had come with him. And he remembered nothing else from the rest of that night.

"That was insane," he commented the next morning. His body felt heavy and languid, but for the first time in forever there was total silence in his head.

"Good insane or bad insane?"

"So insane that I want to do it again. Soon. I think you fucked my brains out."

"And you're not worried about that?"

"No way. I haven't felt that good in… god knows. Forever? Is that why you bottom?"

"Sometimes," Jae had a tiny smile on his face that looked ridiculously sexy. "It doesn't so much matter which position you play. It's the willingness to give up control that makes the difference."

"That's why you let me fuck you back at the base?"

"I needed it. After coming back from patrol and finding Jong Ki dead… yeah, I needed a few hours to let it all go."

"And I thought you had a lot of making up to do."

"That too, of course."

"So… is it always like this when you come home?" He didn't ask if Jaejoong had ever had sex with Jong Ki. It seemed too personal a question seeing the man was no longer around.

"No, of course not. Most times, there's nobody waiting for me. Sometimes I need to go out again the next day, and relaxation is a row of beers and a few bottles of soju along with a few hours of music." He shrugged. "So when I get the chance to cut loose, I take it. Can you blame me?"

"Why should I blame you for anything?" Changmin asked, surprised. "Just look at me…"

"I am, believe me," Jaejoong replied. "You feel so relaxed you can't image how you're ever going to have sex again, right? But if I wanted to take your lush ass one final time you wouldn't say no?"

The words dropped like ice cubes into the warmth between them.

"Is it?" Changmin asked very quietly.

"Is it what?"

"The final time."

Jaejoong would win any pouting contest hands down, but he couldn't sneer for toffee. He seemed to know it, too, because he aborted the effort and slugged Changmin in the shoulder instead. "Idiot. I meant one final time out here, okay? The colonel is cutting us some slack since it was your brother we had to go after, but if we take a couple of weeks to have fun out here he may have a word or two to say about that. And I know we haven't talked much about what happens when we get back… but I wasn't planning on not seeing you again." The pout was back at that along with an evil twinkle in the sniper's beautiful eyes. "Just so we're clear."


	18. Choices

Changmin was stretched out in the middle of the big bed in Jaejoong's quarters, fast asleep. He wasn't naked. Not quite. A book lay face down across his chest. A pair of geeky glasses balanced on his nose. And he wore very high, very tight midnight blue silk briefs that hugged him in all the right places.

They also made his long legs seem positively endless.

Jaejoong, just in from his tour, rumpled, scruffy and still wearing his dirty, sweaty fatigues, found it hard to breathe. And harder to swallow.

He forgot that, in his haste to make it home, he'd not bothered with food all day. He also forgot that, not ten minutes earlier, a cold beer had been at the top of his list of priorities. Followed by a long, hot shower. All three needs paled when compared to the need to join Changmin on those soft sheets, remove the sexy glasses, and run his hands over deep blue silk.

He couldn't believe that he'd patiently sat through three hours of debrief, that he'd answered questions at length and in detail… as if he had forgotten that, this time, he actually had someone to come home to.

The vision on his bed forcefully reminded him.

As if he sensed, even in his sleep, that he was being watched, Changmin shifted and that's when Jaejoong saw it. A broad silver ring on the second toe of Changmin's left foot.

Gods, that looked hot!

As if drawn by a string, Jaejoong was across the room and bent over the foot end of the bed before he knew it, lips tasting the contrast of warm skin against cool, smooth metal.

"What the—" Changmin jerked awake at the touch, almost poking Jaejoong's eye out with his uncontrolled movements. "Jae!"

"Sorry," the sniper apologised, though he wasn't sorry at all. "Too much of a temptation, seeing you in not very much and with that toe ring."

"Yeah? What took you so long, then? I ditched as soon as you made it through the gate."

"Debriefing." This time Jaejoong sounded as if he regretted the lost time. "I could have come straight over, but—"

"Now you get to sleep in tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'm good. I don't have to report until two. Are you hungry? I have food. And beer."

Jaejoong wavered. Needs and wants warred in his mind, decisions made difficult by exhaustion and sensory overload after weeks of solitude. Changmin seemed to get that. He closed the book, took off the glasses and placed both on the nightstand before he rolled off the bed.

"Go shower," he said in a calm, quiet voice. "I'd offer to wash your back, but I think I'm more use heating up dinner." He snatched up a t-shirt and disappeared out of the room before Jaejoong could argue.

He simply stood and breathed, contemplating the slightly mussed bed that had, moments earlier, held long-legged, hot-blooded temptation. Now, it lay silent. And there had been no drama.

No demands. No arguments. Not having to make complicated choices.

Having Changmin around was unexpectedly peaceful.

***

 

"Who did you talk to?" Jaejoong asked later, when they sprawled on the couch. Their dinner of chestnut rice, ginger broth and fried chicken had been simple, soothing and flavourful. It had also been silent. Not because they had nothing to talk about. Not even because Jaejoong didn't want to talk. No, mostly, they'd been silent because after hitting the city during rush hour and and then being quizzed for three hours by six men, Jaejoong couldn't take any more noise. Not even a single soft voice. Not for a while.

"About how it feels to come home?" Changmin guessed. "Weeks ago, the colonel said some things to me that started me thinking. And while you were gone I asked Hyun Rin. He told me more of what to expect and how I can help you acclimatise faster."

"Today was bad," Jae admitted. "But that's mostly my own fault." He stretched until his head rested in Changmin's lap, smiling when Changmin started to run his fingertips from his nape to his ear and down to his collarbones and back.

"Why?"

"I was impatient to come home, so I hurried. I usually try to come in late at night or very early in the morning, so the roads are fairly empty, but today I hit the rush hour. And then I stayed to be debriefed, so we'd have more time together after and… well… you saw."

"Rin said it's hard to make decisions when you're on overload like that."

"Yeah." It was true, but after a month of near silence Jaejoong' ears were tuned to nuances, and he could hear a strange note in Changmin's voice. "It's like walking into a room full of people all yelling at the top of their lungs, all offering you something and you have to pick the one thing that will save the world by the time you've crossed the room. There's this urgency of knowing something awful will happen if you don't choose. Or if you choose wrong. But at the same time, you can't take in what you're being offered and, even worse, you can't evaluate how useful each item is going to be."

"Is is… Is it like this for everyone?"

The strange note was getting stronger. As if Changmin was trying to puzzle something out in that busy brain of his. If that was the case, then Jaejoong would help.

"I really don't know. Everyone in the squad seems to need some quiet time when they come in, but I've never sat down and discussed it in detail with anyone." He shrugged a little apologetically. "They'll make us see the shrinks often enough as it is."

"I understand," Changmin nodded. He kept his head turned away, so all Jaejoong could see was his profile, complete with narrowed eye and a web of tight lines between temple and cheek. "I just wondered if…"

"If what?"

"If that's why he made those choices. Ran Joon, I mean." Changmin took a deep breath and blew it out. "I've been sitting in on his trial. He did it for me. That's what he said in all the interrogations. Whenever he is asked. That he did it for me. The blackmail and the extortion and… everything."

The devastation in Changmin's voice was hard to take. And not just because it wasn't warranted. There was no reason for Changmin to feel guilty over something that was outside his control. But Jaejoong had learned that that wasn't how Changmin worked.

"Fucker's still doing it," he muttered as he reached for another beer, popped the top and held the dewy bottle out for Changmin to take. "I've told you before: Ran Joon was an ace sniper. He was a damn good soldier. But he had one major flaw. He never could take responsibility for his actions. He always had to find someone or something to blame."

"I've never…"

"Well, maybe he was different when he was around you. Or maybe you didn't realise it for what it was." Jaejoong finished his own beer and yawned. "What I'm trying to say it this: you're not your brother's keeper. You're not responsible for his actions. He chose to do those things. He knew that working for the North Koreans would be seen as treason. He couldn't possibly think that being a traitor would benefit you in any way. He isn't that stupid. So whatever he says in interrogation, he did none of that for you. Or even because of you. And I'm happy to tell you that as many times as it takes for you to believe it." He set his empty bottle on the low coffee table. "Bed?"

Changmin still looked troubled despite Jaejoong's words. Jae didn't expect that to change in a while. Ran Joon was a jerk. Worse. A certified asshole. And Min had been caught in his schemes just as certainly as Jaejoong and the rest of the solo squad had been caught the first time around.

It hurt.

Until you got over it.

And Jaejoong was determined to help Changmin get there. He'd have the time to do it, too. Jaejoong had almost forgotten it in the middle of the overload, but when he saw Changmin's despondent face he remembered the colonel pulling him aside when he'd staggered out of his debrief session and telling him that Changmin had accepted the position as Jae's intelligence.

They'd be working together. For a very long time to come if Jaejoong had any say in the matter. Better to start their cooperation the right way.

"Bed?" he asked again, standing.

"Yeah," Changmin finally replied, accepting the the hand Jaejoong held out to him. "Tell me there."

***

 

_Nine Months Later…_

Military prisoners were allowed to have visitors. Ran Joon hadn't known that. He'd been resigned to seeing guards, other inmates, investigators and the odd shrink in his high-security abode, with maybe a phone call or letter thrown in for distraction when he cooperated suitably.

So being escorted to a room where a visitor was waiting for him was unexpected.

As was the face of the man that greeted him.

If he'd thought about it at all, he would have expected to see Changmin. He'd cut ties with almost everyone else when he left the country. His remaining few friends, from school mostly, didn't know he was back. Or how much of a hash he'd made of his life. Only Changmin knew. And despite Changmin's fury over Ran Joon's life choices, Ran would have expected to see his brother.

He'd not expected to see Major Kim Jaejoong.

The sniper ace stood by the far wall, his back to the mirrored window of the adjoining observation room. He stood ramrod straight, shoulders held stiffly, as if he wanted to be anywhere else but in this bare room with its white walls.

Ran Joon got that. If they'd told him Kim Jaejoong was his visitor, he'd have refused to see him. As it was… well, maybe the stuck-up ass was good for a few minutes of entertainment.

"Oh look what the cat dragged in," Ran Joon greeted once the guard had shut the door and he'd heard the lock click. The rooms were supposed to be soundproof and private, but he'd long ago given up believing what anyone told him. They were being watched. Their conversation was being recorded and all that mattered to Ran Joon was cracking that stiff mask the other sniper wore. "What do you want?"

"Names."

"How original. Shall I ask for a phone book?"

Jaejoong breathed out on a sigh. His shoulders relaxed and for a moment he looked almost sad. "Still the ass you've always been, I see," he said. "Changmin's made himself a target. I thought you'd be interested in helping me protect him. I want the names of people who'd be gunning for him."

"I'm not that stupid, Kim. This mess is over. Nobody will be going after Changmin."

"No?" The sniper's voice grew sharper. "Changmin's taken down their super sleeper double agent. He's shown that he's smart, resourceful, persistent and devious to boot. If you think the North Koreans will stop going after him, then you're even more delusional than I had you pegged as."

"And you're full of shit, Kim. You always were. If you think I'm falling for that crap, then you're the one who's deluded here. This mess is over."

Jaejoong's face shut down again. "It's not over," he said quietly. "Not that you would know, but they sprung the mole before he could be shot."

That was news. Bad enough it sent ice-cold fear into Ran Joon's heart. He refused to let it show. Called on anger to keep his voice the sneer it had been since he stepped into the white room. "Because every bleeding sod thought he was beat and we were soooo much better. Arrogance… as always."

"Gloat, why don't you? It's all you fucking ever do. If you had half a brain, you'd realise that that puts Min right in the centre of the map. There are clearly others, traitors like you, and he's the only one who might know or be able to work out who they are. He can't turn around or draw breath without someone wanting him dead. Is that what you'd want for your baby brother?"

It took effort, but Ran Joon shrugged. "The sympathy card won't work on me either, Kim. It just so happens that I'm clean out of sympathy."

"That implies you had any to begin with, and we both know that's bullshit. I used to think that the only person you've ever cared about is yourself. After that nonsense in the woods I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, you cared about Changmin as well. But fine, I get it. I was wrong."

"Is there a point to that performance?"

The dislike in Jaejoong's eyes was real and it stung just a little. "I really want to beat you to a pulp, but I've been told to offer you a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yeah. The kind where you help me keep Changmin alive while he locates the rest of that rats' nest."

"For?"

It clearly hurt Jaejoong to say so. He chewed on his lower lip for so long that Ran Joon wondered if the decision was actually in Jaejoong's hand and not already made. What kind of crap was going on out there?

"An early release. A new life here, or a ticket to wherever you want to go."

Holy fuck. If this was real… The level of shit that would prompt such an offer was… too big and scary to contemplate. The army's justice system wasn't known for its leniency or compassion. So this… couldn't be real. They stared each other down and enmity crackled around them like static before a thunderstorm. Finally, Jaejoong shrugged and turned his back on Ran Joon.

That did it. Kim fucking Jaejoong had meant every word he said. This wasn't just another ploy to make him talk. This was a real threat. And Changmin was the target.

"I need to think about that," Ran Joon baited one last time.

Jaejoong didn't turn. "And I don't care," he said. "You have an hour to tell me that your brother's life means anything to you." He checked his watch. "Actually, forty-two minutes. Until my visitor's permit runs out. If you can't be bothered then… you can rot."

_/fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of this particular journey. Or maybe not, since the Muse is drooling over Changmin in uniform and busily spinning a sequel. Thank you so much for keeping me company and thanks for all your comments. I much appreciate them!
> 
> Please note that this story is fiction. I'm well aware that I'm depicting a far more liberal ROKA than currently exists. Most especially, right now Jae wouldn't ever be able to stand up to Ran Joon as he does in the story. Nor could Jae and Min dare to embark on the kind of relationship I'm showing them as having while continuing to serve as officers. Let's please not argue about that, but rather accept that I've used ample artistic license and hope for a more liberal future.


End file.
